In this article, we argue that biopolitical sovereignty and the political theory about the state of exception, often derived from the thought of Carl Schmitt, are not sufficient analytical indicators if we seek to understand the politics of global utility of bodies, control over life or the living, and abusive authority and violence that appear to dominate International Relations practices today. To better capture the singularity of the international present, we suggest that an Arendtian political theoretical approach, more carefully tuned to the politics and policies of absolute or totalitarian violence and terror, is necessary. By revisiting Arendt’s thought about violence and political agony, we reconceptualize sovereign practices as matters of « agonal sovereignty ».