Overview

Of all the issues in international relations, disputes over territory are the most salient and most likely to lead to armed conflict. Understanding their endurance is of paramount importance. Although many states have settled their disagreements over territory, seventy-one disputes involving nearly 40 percent of all sovereign states remain unresolved. In this study, Krista E. Wiegand examines why some states are willing and able to settle territorial disputes while others are not. She argues that states may purposely maintain disputes over territory in order to use them as bargaining leverage in negotiations over other important unresolved issues. This dual strategy of issue linkage and coercive diplomacy allows the chal­lenger state to benefit from its territorial claim. Under such conditions, it has strong incentive to pursue diplomatic and militarized threats and very little incentive to settle the dispute over territory. Wiegand tests her theory in four case studies, three representing the major types of territorial disputes: uninhabited islands and territorial waters, as seen in tensions between China and Japan over the Senkaku and Diaoyu Islands; inhabited tracts of territory, such as the North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla affecting Morocco and Spain; and border areas, like the Shebaa Farms dispute between Lebanon and Israel. A fourth case study of a dispute between China and Russia represents a combination of all three types; settled in 2008, it serves as a negative example. All these disputes involve areas that have key strategic and economic importance both region­ally and globally.

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Reviews

In this thoughtfully written book, Krista Wiegand argues that territorial disputes are often perpetuated because states link their territorial claims to other issues such as broader geo-strategic concerns, economic issues or migration. . . . Those interested not only in territorial disputes but also in issue linkage will find Wiegand's well-crafted book a fruitful read. --Mark Duckenfield, Political Studies Review

<p> Enduring Territorial Disputes is a very original study that makes an important and lasting contribution to international relations. It is of the highest caliber and will quickly establish itself among those who study territory as a key book to read. --John Vasquez, author of The War Puzzle Revisited

Author Information

KRISTA E. WIEGAND is an associate professor of political science at Georgia Southern University. She is the author of Bombs and Ballots: Governance by Islamic Terrorist and Guerrilla Groups.

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