Territorial Dispute

Territorial dispute is a conflict that involves competing claims to a piece of land or territory. It is often militarized, and its resolution can have profound consequences for regional or global stability. It can also create humanitarian crises, as in the case of the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir or China’s militarization of the South China Sea, which has prompted conflict escalation with other claimants. It is also more likely to turn into a war than other types of interstate disputes.

Although scholars have been studying territorial disputes for some time, the literature does not yet provide a clear picture of how these conflicts arise and why they escalate. One problem is that the definition of what constitutes a territorial dispute is inconsistent and problematic, with many studies using different definitions. For instance, Stephen Kocs defines a territorial dispute as a disagreement over the delineation of an international boundary line, while Erich Weede considers territorial disputes to include all states’ claims to Antarctica (which are not being actively pursued).

Most scholars of territorial disputes focus on domestic political considerations and on the ways in which the process of escalation leads to war. They also examine the factors that lead states to decide whether or not to press their territorial claims and, if they do so, how aggressively.

Several studies have found that a state’s desire to assert its sovereignty over disputed territory is a significant factor in determining the probability of conflict escalation. In addition, studies have examined the role of geographic contiguity as a dyadic condition in conflict escalation.