The previous post introduced the main issues at stake when dealing with TERRITORIAL DISPUTES. They range from strategic location of the territory to sociological, political and financial reasons in the domestic, regional and international contexts. 

There are several remedies that may offer a viable solution to TERRITORIAL DISPUTES.Following public international law, we find that the UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States (GA Res.2625 XXV, 24/10/1970) says:

“States shall accordingly seek early and just settlement of their international disputes by negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangements or other peaceful means of their choice.”

Merrills includes in his analysis of different means for dispute settlement:

• Negotiation
• Mediation
• Inquiry
• Conciliation
• Arbitration
• The International Court
• The Law of the Sea Convention
• International Trade Disputes
• The United Nations
• Regional Organizations

Merrills, J.G. 2017. International Dispute Settlement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

With my latest book Núñez 2017, I attempt to put a theoretical solution to sovereignty conflicts. In Chapter 5, I present a classification of different solutions to sovereignty conflicts or territorial disputes classified as follows:

Unilateral variations:

a)   Fortress.

b)   Integration and free association.

c)    Independence.

International/Multilateral approach:

a)   A NATO-based Multilateral Security Approach.

b)   A SATO-based Security Approach.

c)    United Nations Trusteeship.

d)   The Antarctic Solution.

e)   The International Court. 

Bilateral Approaches:

a)   Anglo-Argentine condominium.

b)   Shared dual sovereignty.

c)    Leaseback with guarantees.

d)   A Sovereignty freeze.

e)   Abandonment.

f)     Titular Sovereignty and autonomy. 

Beck, Peter. 1988. The Falkland Islands as an International Problem. Routledge: London and New York.

NOTE: This post is based on Jorge Emilio Núñez, “Territorial Disputes and State Sovereignty: International Law and Politics,” London and New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, 2020 (forthcoming)Previous published research monograph about territorial disputes and sovereignty by the author, Jorge Emilio Núñez, “Sovereignty Conflicts and International Law and Politics: A Distributive Justice Issue,” London and New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, 2017.

NEXT POST: Territorial disputes, Kashmir.

Friday 27th September 2019

 Dr Jorge Emilio Núñez

Twitter: @London1701
https://drjorge.world