Territorial Disputes Research Articles

Prospects for Japan-Republic of Korea relation: A possibility analysis based on the external threats

The relationship between Japan and Korea has complex historical, political, and cultural dynamics, often characterized by tensions and disputes. Influenced by the intervention of the superpowers, these two countries are economically interdependent and politically opposed. Despite the efforts of the Korean leader to improve the trend, the bilateral relationship faces challenges due to unresolved factors such as historical issues, territorial disputes, and war reparations. This paper takes the external threats affecting the cooperation between Japan and Korea as the research object and evaluates the current situation and obstacles to the bilateral relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea by analyzing the impact of actions taken by countries other than Japan and Korea on their domestic governance, economic conditions, foreign policy decisions, military arrangements, and bilateral relations development. Also, this paper prospects favorable conditions for tightening further bilateral communication, and looks forward to the possibilities of future cooperation between the two countries.

China's Arctic Policy and Engagement: Review and Prospects

China's Arctic Policy and Engagement:Review and Prospects Yitong Chen (bio) The Arctic is experiencing greatly accelerated change under the influence of climate change, economic globalization, and world power shifts. After China became an official observer state of the Arctic Council in 2013, its involvement in Arctic affairs has grown increasingly and intensively. It has been particularly prominent in three areas: science, economics, and governance. When China became an observer state, few people could have predicted the extent to which the world would change over the next decade. At that time, China did not stand out so much from the other four new observer countries in Asia (Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and India). Features such as Japan's close scientific cooperation with Arctic countries, South Korea's shipbuilding skills, and Singapore's important shipping position are why they have been granted observer status. A year later, however, a series of black swan events occurred, starting with the Crimean crisis in 2014. Like dominoes, the world landscape has since shifted dramatically. In 2016, Britain announced its departure from the European Union, while Donald Trump was elected president of the United States. After then U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo delivered an infamous speech at the ministerial meeting in 2019 warning China and Russia against "aggressive behavior," the Arctic Council closed for the first time without issuing a joint statement.1 In the speech, Pompeo used metaphorical and parallel questions to warn about China's presence in the Arctic, such as "Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims?"2 However, this situation cannot happen because China has no legal right to claim any territorial sovereignty in the Arctic. Moreover, the only territorial dispute in the Arctic—over the small island Hans Island between Canada [End Page 29] and Denmark (via Greenland)—was peacefully settled with an agreement.3 When Covid-19 arrived, China was the first to respond with a strict epidemic prevention policy, but the country also entered a three-year self-imposed quarantine that slowed communication with the international community. At the same time, however, China has further deepened cooperation with Russia. In February 2022, after meeting at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin issued a joint statement that announced their intention to develop a "polycentric world order."4 The world now is a very different place than it was in 2013. China released its official white paper on Arctic policy in 2018.5 The white paper marked the culmination of a five-year period of gradual outreach and initial involvement in the Arctic governance arena as an Arctic Council observer state. Therefore, its release announced the beginning of the first year of the country's full participation in Arctic affairs in a mature and steady manner, guided by defined objectives and principles. This essay reviews China's involvement in Arctic affairs, using the white paper as a blueprint. Following a discussion of China's Arctic identity, the subsequent two sections concentrate on Arctic science and technology development and international cooperation in polar science. The essay then concludes by commenting on the implications of the current Russia-Ukraine conflict for Arctic governance and China's position and prospects in the region. China's Identity in the Arctic If there were keywords to describe China's identity in the Arctic, they would be "near-Arctic state" and "stakeholder." The logic behind the description of China as a near-Arctic state is that it is one of the continental states closest to the Arctic Circle. The proximity is not only geographic. Environmental changes in the Arctic have caused a series of direct impacts in China as well as indirect implications for its economic interests in agriculture, forestry, fishery, marine industry, and other sectors. [End Page 30] The white paper has to some extent responded to long-standing international speculation and questions about China's Arctic position and whether China will disrupt the established international order in the Arctic. However, China's self-perception as a near-Arctic state remains the most attacked concept in the paper. For example, one scholar...

Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel in Indian Ocean Region: An Analysis of Vulnerabilities and Resilience in South Asia and Horn of Africa

The Indian Ocean holds significant geopolitical and economic importance as a crucial maritime corridor for global trade, spanning from South Asia to Horn of Africa. Despite its economic opportunities, the region faces multifaceted security challenges, including piracy, maritime terrorism, territorial disputes, and resource competition, posing threats to maritime operations and commercial interests. To address these concerns, there has been a notable rise in the use of Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel (PCASP) to protect the vessels and cargo. The research article comprehensively analyses the deployment of PCASP in Indian Ocean Region (IOR), focusing on vulnerabilities in South Asia and Horn of Africa. The study explores the historical context of security challenges, examines legal framework, evaluate the effectiveness of PCASP in mitigating risks and securitises their operational categories through case studies. Moreover, it explores the impact of PCASP on local communities, including socio-economic factors and the potential for conflict escalation. The research paper also discusses broader implication of PCASP involvement in regional stability and geopolitical dynamics among nations in the region. In conclusion, the study provides valuable insights into the regulated use of PCASP in IOR, to enhance effectiveness, accountability, regional stability, and safeguard the interest of all the nations.

Nigeria’s Sub – Regional Diplomacy: Nigeria’s role in promoting West African Institutions

The study examines Nigerian subregional diplomacy: study of Nigeria’s role in promoting West African Institutions The study focuses on Nigeria’s relations with West African institutions such as the Lake Chad Basin Commission, the Gulf of Guinea Commission and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The authors consider in detail Nigeria’s national interests vis-à-vis West African institutions and Member States. To achieve the objective of the study, the authors pay particular attention to Nigeria’s bilateral relations with neighbouring States and cooperation with African institutions. The study is based on the theory of political realism, which implies constant competition among States defending their national interests. In the process of studying this problem, the authors apply institutional, analytical and problem-chronological methods. The main conclusions of the study are the establishment of Nigeria’s role in the settlement of border and territorial disputes, which enabled the state to interact and cooperate with its neighbours, the importance of Nigeria’s contribution to the peacekeeping of the region, Identifying the stability of Nigeria’s foreign policy towards both Africa as a whole and neighbouring States, analysing the main problems of the West African region, which is the basis of Nigeria’s subregional diplomacy: insecurity, political instability and economic imbalance. Moreover, the authors provide critical analysis of Nigeria’s institutional cooperation. The relevance of the study is due to the growing political and economic influence of Nigeria on the African continent.

ПРИРОДА МІЖНАРОДНИХ КОНФЛІКТІВ В СУЧАСНИХ УМОВАХ ГЛОБАЛЬНОГО СЕРЕДОВИЩА

The article is an attempt to study the nature of international conflicts and their impact on economic development and growth under the modern conditions of global environment. The author is trying to systematize and generalize the economic theories and strategies of safe development in conformity with logically consistent and historical evolution, emphasizing that the nature of international conflicts is determined by the relations of property distribution, resource interests and dependence, by the level of socio-economic development and growth, ecological discrimination, territorial disputes, etc. It is emphasized that the evolution of internal and external threats countries are faced by is also of great importance, since military costs may negatively affect the economic growth. However, in front of external threats, military costs may promote the economic growth as well. Otherworldly, on the one hand, a conflict is a specific tool of appropriating welfare, since it is inseparably connected with using the resources of captured territories, appropriating stolen property, capital investments and consumer goods, historical and historical values as well as with slavery. On the other hand, a conflict may acquire features of a business concerned with buying weapons, recruiting, training personnel, logistics and delivery chains, implementing R&D projects and innovations, obtaining economic benefits from activities carried out by military companies, etc. Revealing regional peculiarities of international conflicts’ development, scientific research of international conflicts in modern global environment promotes improvement of the available regional safety complexes. Key words: conflict, international conflict, globalization, global environment, economic growth.

РУССКИЕ ПОСЛЫ В ЛАПЛАНДИИ В 1592 г.

The article is devoted to the case connected with the history of diplomatic relations between the Moscow state and Denmark-Norway. The sending of Russian ambassadors to the Far North in 1592 to participate in border negotiations was associated with the aggravation of the so-called Lapland dispute, a territorial dispute in the European Arctic region. The author examines the prerequisites for sending ambassadors, the circumstances associated with the embassy, as well as the facts reflecting the configuration of the Russian-Norwegian borderland.

National Dignity and Military Conflicts: An Empirical Study Based on the Territorial Disputes from 1816 to 2000

National Dignity and Military Conflicts: An Empirical Study Based on the Territorial Disputes from 1816 to 2000

"Отечественная война" за Карабах: предпосылки и последствия

SUMMARY: Focusing on the culmination of the Karabakh conflict in the so-called 44-day war of 2020 and the final liquidation of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh in September 2023, this article reconstructs the mechanisms of perpetual confrontation in 1988–1923. A product of the competing Armenian and Azerbaijani nationalisms during the late Soviet period, the territorial dispute over the predominantly Armenian-populated region of Azerbaijan formed a cultural mechanism that produced discourses of hatred and counterfactual historical claims. Both sides' fixation on the mythologized past made mutual understanding and compromise impossible, predetermining an equally antagonistic future. Cultural mythologies framed by tropes of Romantic nationalism became primary drivers of the territorial conflict in the late 1980s, when they proved their efficiency in nationalist mobilization. Today, political regimes in Armenia and Azerbaijan entirely rely on thus-produced national mobilization as the foundation of their legitimacy and authority, which makes the conflict insoluble. Today, it is not the contested territory that produces confrontation, but the need to sustain authority within the embraced format of national mobilization that necessitates constant disputes with the neighboring country.

The Impact of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine on East Asia

Although unfolding a continent away, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is detrimental to the strategic stability of East Asia, which is already riven by its own unresolved conflicts and territorial control disputes. The degradation of global security norms, the disruption to global energy supplies and the need to pick sides for or against Russia have each contributed to making East Asia’s security a more complex Rubik’s cube to manage. This article examines the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Russia–China relations; Taiwan Strait’s stability; Japan’s defence policy; and the Korean peninsula. How and on what terms Russia’s invasion ends will carry another set of impacts and lessons for East Asia. In closing, the lessons of freezing conflicts in East Asia are applied to the emerging situation in Eastern Europe: of an unresolveable and unwinnable war that may become a lasting feature of European security, in the way that unresolved wars over Korea and Taiwan have become enduring realities in East Asia.

РУССКИЕ ПОСЛЫ В ЛАПЛАНДИИ В 1595 г.

The article is devoted to the diplomatic relations between the Moscow state and Denmark-Norway. The sending of Russian ambassadors to the Far North in 1595 was due to the so-called Lapland dispute, a major territorial dispute in the European Arctic. The author examines the prerequisites for sending ambassadors, the circumstances associated with the embassy, as well as the facts reflecting the configuration of the Russian-Norwegian borderland.

Socio-Economic Perils of Russo-Ukranian War: The 2014 and 2022 Experiences

Moscow’s war against Ukraine in 2014 and its continuation from February 2022 may be described as an asymmetrical war. This is because Russian military far outnumbered that of Ukraine. The war has been described as the most devastated in Europe since 1945 as thousands of lives have been destroyed. Russia has not been able to defeat Russia in over eighteen months into the war but it (Russia) has equally refused to cease fire despite the economic sanctions by United States of America and other western powers. The country (Russia) has remained resolute in its determination to continue with the war against Ukraine. There are many arguments in literatures on causes of the war. Some of these arguments include territorial disputes over Crimea and Donbas region, Russia’s perception of North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) expansion as a threat, ideological and cultural differences between Russia and Ukraine, legacies of the Soviet Union, including the collapse of Soviet Union and the rise of nationalism. Scholars have not reached any consensus about which of these factors is most important, and there is no single explanation that captured all the complexities of the conflict. This paper argues that although there are historical, political and economic factors that contributed to the outbreak of the war, the eastward expansion of NATO is the primary reason. The article is exploratory and analytical. It critically analyzes some tertiary sources (internet materials) and at the same time uses critical theory in international relations to explain the causes of the war. It also draws some important sources, including records of governmental and nongovernmental organizations. The paper concluded that the war has negatively affected the world socio-economically and any peace process that did not include internationally-monitored referendum in disputed areas like Crimea and Donbas cannot be said to be a complete peace process.

The Somali Regional State of Ethiopia: History and Prospects for Development

The Somali Regional State of Ethiopia, by its very existence, demonstrates an attempt to resolve territorial disputes in the Horn of Africa over the past two decades. Ethiopia and Somalia lay claim to the territory despite the fact that it is peripheral to both nations. Nevertheless, it is located at the centre of the Somali Peninsula, at the crossroads of trade routes from the hinterland of North East Africa to seaports, at the crossroads of Christian and Islamic civilisations. The formation of the Somali Regional State was made possible after Ethiopia became a federal state in 1994, when the rights of ethnic Somalis living in the eastern part of the country were redefined. The article provides an overview of the historical background of the Ogaden and analyses the problems inherent in its being part of federal Ethiopia. The uneasy relationship between the region and the modern Ethiopian state demonstrates that ethnic federalism, in the absence of developed democratic mechanisms, generates a number of contradictions between different peoples who, under a federal system, are entitled to, or at least hope for, legitimate representation in the central government. The interest of Soviet and Russian scholars in the “Ogaden problem” was mostly limited to the Cold War period, when two states tried to resolve territorial disputes by waging war with both sides receiving military support from the Soviet Union. Nowadays the question of effectiveness of ethnic federalism within Ethiopia is more in the focus of research. In the article the author analyses the main stages of the creation of the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia and offers some ideas for future studies of the Region.

Crisis in Russian-Japanese Relations in 2022

In response to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine in 2022, Japanese government imposed large-scale sanctions that affected financial, trade, economic, energy, political and humanitarian spheres of Russian-Japanese cooperation. The negotiations on the peace treaty between Moscow and Tokyo were also suspended. Unlike in 2014, Japanese anti-Russian sanctions in 2022 caused heavy crisis in Russian-Japanese relations. The reasons of the Tokyo’s tough response included the scale of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in 2022, the harsh reaction to Russian operation of Japan’s leading international partners, including the United States, European Union, Great Britain, Australia and a number of Asia-Pacific nations, desire of Japanese leadership to warn China that its possible military actions in Taiwan Strait or around the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea will meet Tokyo’s serious resistance. Another reason of severe worsening of Russian-Japanese relations in 2022 was the essential end of the rapprochement between Moscow and Tokyo in 2013–2020 with unsatisfactory results for the Japanese side. During this period, Russia and Japan could not sign a peace treaty despite the efforts of the former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who intended to solve the long-standing territorial dispute between Russia and Japan by establishing personal ties with the Russian president Vladimir Putin and promoting economic cooperation between the two nations. This approach proved to be unpromising and was criticized in Russia and Japan. The future of the peace treaty talks between Moscow and Tokyo will depend on whether the negotiating parties are able to lower the level of political and diplomatic confrontation and adopt their claims to the new realities of the changed international environment.

Mnemonic Regime in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria: Using the Narrative of the Deportation of the Balkarian People in Regional Memory Politics

The article studies regional memory politics in Kabardino-Balkaria. By applying the concept of mnemonic regime, the model of using the memory of the deportation of the Balkarian people through the configuration of mnemonic actors and their strategies is considered. It was found that a fractured memory regime is formed in the republic. This is explained by the presence of an antagonistic strategy of actors in the struggle for the dominance of narrative in public space. The local elite use the memory of the trauma to improve the political and economic status of the group. The memory of the Battle of Kanzhal is important for the Adyghe people. But Balkarian actors dispute it. It is a way of challenging the dominant status of Kabardians as well as resolving territorial disputes.

COLOURING WITH THE SAME BRUSH: REVISITING UNDOCUMENTED MIGRATION IN SOUTH ASIA

Undocumented cross-border migration is an active agent of the state indeed. The inflow single-handedly affects the state policies and bilateral relations with the source country. In this process of interaction, these movements get altered reciprocally. In a heterogeneous society like South Asia, recurrent tension persists between groups and even the States. As a result, the region remains vibrant in territorial and communal disputes. South Asia witnessed a great exodus and constant illegal migration across the borders that shaped the politics in the region. The paper attempts to analyze the inconsistent attitude toward different cross-border migrations in South Asia. The analysis has contextualized the affairs of the state and the history of South Asian countries. The uncertainty of immigrants and the absence of a proper legislative framework exclusive to South Asia results in administrative ad hocism.

The use of steel structures to enable the design and construction of the main symbol of the verticalization process of Porto Alegre/RS

The city of Porto Alegre, capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul/ RS, was founded on March 26, 1772. The municipality in question is considered the southernmost capital of Brazil [1]. With an area of almost 500 km², the city has a very diversified geography, with hills, lowlands, and a large lake, the Guaíba, which skirts the city in a 70 km stretch of riverfront, being the most striking geographical expression of the gaucho capital [2]. Currently with a population estimated at around one and a half million inhabitants, the settlement of the region began with the arrival of only 60 Portuguese Azorean couples, brought by means of the Madrid Treaty (an agreement between Portugal and Spain to settle territorial disputes between the two nations in America).

INDONESIA’S STRATEGY AND DIPLOMACY IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA CONFLICT

<p>This study describes the government's strategy in Indonesia under the leadership of Joko Widodo to strengthen the Natuna border area. The Natuna area is a point of discussion as there are often territorial conflicts. This study aims to answer the question about the government's strategy to strengthen the border zone in Natuna. This study uses library research methodology and the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) concept to analyze the process. After conducting research, it can be concluded that to reinforce the border area at Natuna, the government is making efforts to improve the military posture by constructing several new military units. Then the government is also looking at diplomatic means in the ASEAN region to resolve the territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea. This is because there is no mutual agreement, considering that Indonesia is based on the 1982 UNCLOS, while China has a view of the Nine-Dash Line. </p>

Middle East and North Africa

1. Territory, State and Nation in the Middle East and North Africa 2. Cross-boundary Interaction and Political Conflict in the Central Middle East 3. Demarcation Lines in Contemporary Beirut 4. The Palestinian State: Options and Possibilities 5. Rethinking Functional and Formal Boundary Classification. The Changing Temperament of the Green Line Boundary between Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the Intifada 6. River and Lake Boundaries in Israel 7. Gaza Viability - The Need for Enlargement of its Land Base 8. The Evolution of the Trans-Jordan - Iraq Boundary 9. Legal Aspects of the Iraqi Sovereignty and Boundary Disputes with Kuwait 10. The Historical Problem of Iraqi Access to the Persian Gulf: The Interrelationships of Territorial Disputes with Iran and Kuwait 11. United Arab Emigrates - Oman Frontiers 12. Captain Kelly's Diaries: The Sudan-Uganda Boundary Commission 1912-13

International legal status of the Free City of Danzig (1920-1939)

The article is devoted to a little-studied page of the history of international law and international legal personality - the status of the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk) in 1920-1939. The topic of such state entities with a special international regime of territory and subjectivity is a veryinteresting page of the international experience of settling territorial disputes between states. Unfortunately, their research in the Ukrainian international law (in particular, the international legal status of the Neutral Moresnet and the Free City of Krakow) began to appear only in recent years.
 The article examines the history of Danzig and the circumstances that actualized the issue of its statehood after the end of the First World War. It was emphasized that the decision to create the Free City was a compromise between the interests of Poland and the residents of Danzig on the one hand, and the interests of various victorious states on the other.
 The main sources of the international legal status of the Free City of Danzig are highlighted. The peculiarities of the international legal personality of Danzig in the context of relations between the Free City and Poland and the League of Nations are analyzed. Special attention is paid to various aspects of legal personality, in particular: external relations and membership in international organizations; economic issue; guarantees of the security of the Free City. It is substantiated that, despite the special regime of the territory and the limitation of sovereignty, Danzig was an independent state in the international context.
 The reasons that led to the end of the history of the Free City of Danzig are singled out, in particular: permanent conflicts with Poland; the ineffectiveness of the League of Nations as a key guarantor of the security of the Free City; the coming to power of the Nazis in Danzig and their policy of rapprochement with Nazi Germany. It is shown that in the future the use of such formats for the resolution of international disputes is impractical due to the impossibility of considering the entire set of circumstances.

Kontradiksi Perilaku Republik Rakyat China di Asia Tenggara: Geopolitik dan Kepentingan Nasional

Purpose: This study will explain the People's Republic of China's (PRC) national interest through international relations activities in the Southeast Asian region. Activities that occur between PRC and states in Southeast Asia are cooperation and conflict at the same time. One form of cooperation that occurs between the PRC and countries in Southeast Asia is the Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI) mega project. Meanwhile, a territorial dispute in the South China Sea is one form of conflict that arises between the PRC and states in Southeast Asia. Methodology: The research method used in this research is a qualitative research method with a descriptive approach. This study will use the concepts of geopolitics and national interests as a research knife to explain the importance of the Southeast Asian region to the PRC, China's behavior in the Southeast Asia region, and PRC intentions. Results: Southeast Asia is of great importance to PRC national interests. The strategic location, natural resources, and countries in the region have the potential to fulfill PRC national interests. PRC has both cooperative and conflict relations with countries in Southeast Asia. Bilateral and multilateral cooperation between PRC and Southeast Asian countries has positively impacted both sides. One form of collaboration between the PRC and Southeast Asian countries is the BRI, and one conflict is the dispute in the South China Sea. Good relations are not a guarantee of avoiding a conflict and vice versa. Ultimately, the state will make a rational choice that will produce a decision or policy that can accommodate its national interests.