Territorial and Maritime Boundary Disputes in Asia

Abstract

Territorial disputes involve a state’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity—its core interests. Historically, they have been the most common issue over which states collide and go to war. Since 1945, Asia has been more prone to conflict over territory and maritime boundaries than other regions in the world. Asia accounts for the greatest number of disputes over territory that have become militarized and that have escalated into interstate wars. Disputes in Asia have also been resistant to settlement, accounting for the lowest rate of settlement when compared with other regions. Most importantly, Asia today has far more territorial disputes than any other part of the world. When combined with the rise of new powers, which are involved in multiple territorial disputes, such conflicts are poised to become an increasing source of tension and instability in the region. This is a draft version of a chapter that appears in Saadia Pekkanen, Rosemary Foot, and John Ravenhill, The Oxford Handbook of the International Relations of Asia (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014). The author thanks Paul Huth for generously making available his data on territorial disputes. Peter G. Swartz provided expert research assistance.