The Post-Traumatic Sovereignty Trap

Abstract: The essay uses the lens of "post-traumatic sovereignty" to explain how small democracies under existential threat, such as Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, shape their domestic politics and foreign policy. Historical traumas—the Holodomor, the Holocaust and Jewish statelessness, and the unresolved Chinese civil war—anchor collective fears that frame current security choices and justify far-reaching measures. These states tightly align with Western powers, especially the United States, and use their democratic credentials as soft power to secure military, financial, and diplomatic support. Digital-era communication amplifies their narratives, giving them outsized influence. The authors argue that for such states, sovereignty inevitably comes before democracy, raising difficult questions about how liberal norms endure under permanent threat.