National Sovereignty Organization
The National Sovereignty Organization (NSO) was a prominent and influential UN organization that sought to change the international organization through education and legislation that promoted and/or ensured a respect for national sovereignty, particularly in the area of domestic policies. The NSO was formed from the ashes of the National Sovereignty Coalition, an organization with very similar goals that failed due to inactivity on the part of the administrator.
NSO was active for over two years from 2005 to 2007, with activity mostly petering out in the summer and fall of 2007. Talk of reviving the organization for the World Assembly during the summer of 2010 eventually resulted in the establishment of a successor organization, which, while lacking an official name, was usually called the "Sovereigntist Saloon" or "NSO 2.0".
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History
Weapons agreements were a primary focus of the NSO's early activities, as bans on both chemical and biological weapons were introduced to the UN General Assembly in mid-2005. Both resolutions were heavily criticized, even by nations that were not traditionally advocates of national sovereignty. The proliferation of global disarmament resolutions prompted NSO co-founders Flibbleites and Texan Hotrodders to introduce their own proposals preserving national self-determination on nuclear weaponry and defense arsenals. Not long afterward, another NSO co-founder, Powerhungry Chipmunks, would author a repeal of the chemical-weapons ban.
Greater attention was returned to domestic policy in early 2006, when repeals of Gay Rights and Abortion Rights (the former by an NSO member) were passed. Repeal "Abortion Rights" especially heightened tensions within the NSO and the General Assembly at large, with competing factions introducing their own replacements for the contested legislation. NSO members Gruenberg and Omigodtheykilledkenny got their sovereignty-friendly replacement to quorum first, causing several abortion-rights advocates to leave the organization in protest, most staying behind as observers.
With the passage of numerous repeals and blocker resolutions in 2006, many of them by NSO members such as Gruenberg and Yelda, NSO was widely perceived as a rather successful UN organization and a model for other such think tanks, including UN DEFCON, Green Think Tank and FAIRTRADE. A competitor organization, the United International Congress, which advocated limits on national sovereignty, did not see the same level of success.
Membership
NSO membership represented a variety of perspectives on national sovereignty, with some members choosing to advocate absolute sovereignty, others limited sovereignty, and still others holding very specific criteria regarding what constitutes sovereignty and to what extent the NSUN should respect it. Members were usually referred to as "sovereigntists" or "NatSovers", though the terms could also be used to describe adherents to the wider NS "sovereigntist movement," which included more extreme and anti-UN elements such as ACCEL and Gatesville. Most active members of NSO took a more pragmatic approach to sovereignty and the formulation of international law.
Numerous members, some more active than others, came and went during the two and a half years of the NSO's existence. NSO generally had an open membership policy, but began to screen applicants in 2006. Few were rejected. Members included:
Members
Observers
Legislative Projects
The following resolutions were drafted in whole or part with the cooperation of NSO members:
- Resolution #109 - Nuclear Armaments
- Resolution #110 - United Nations Security Act
- Resolution #128 - Representation in Taxation
- Resolution #144 - Repeal "Gay Rights"
- Resolution #147 - Abortion Legality Convention
