A realist approach to fundimental change

This debate brought forth some interesting notions regarding fundamental change in the realm of international relations, what it's nature is, and how it can be accomplished. One of the key points discussed was the issue of sovereignty and whether states would be willing to forgo their sovereignty and under which conditions this might happen. The argument is that states will not only forgo their own security, but in a certain regards their own survival in order to join this greater institution or entity. I do believe that if there is some recreation of the sense of self, in terms of role and identity, that this might happen within certain contexts (the creation of a European identity for example). That being said, I do ultimately believe that these cases are the exception more than the rule. Central to the argument made by the pro-fundamental change side was that this change happens within the context of large international institutions (and to a lesser extent created by borderless social and political movements) and that once certain values of these institutions were exported that they would be institutionalized within the new member state. The institutionalization of these new sets of norms and values are then one of the key factors of reshaping a state's identity or role within international society. One of the main problems with this theory is that state's join these institutions for a variety of reasons, and once they join it does not necessarily mean that their value system will change at all, and some actors will use these institutions to advance their own domestic agenda and therefore further entrench the idea of sovereignty. If the issue around fundamental change is centered around the idea that states will surrender their sovereignty in due time as a result of a restructuring of their values system or change in role and identity, then this neglects the role of individuals on the domestic level play and the internal power struggles within a state. Ultimately, the realm of international relations is a collection of states with their own set of individual actors vying for power on the domestic level, and without some external force or threat serving as a catalyst for cooperation, these individual actors are not (as a whole) likely to give up sovereignty which is their vehicle for obtaining power.