This important new book by one of the world's leading political theorists boldly questions the moral justification for organizing our world as a territorial states-system and proposes major changes to states' sovereign powers.

The author explores how tribal governments have worked through the constraints of their eroded territory and sovereignty to provide effective leadership and governance.

Adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, this book opens new ground for research on territorial disputes. Many sovereignty conflicts remain unresolved around the world. Current solutions in law, political science and international relations generally prove problematic to at least one of the agents part of these differences. Arguing that disputes are complex, multi-layered and multi-faceted, this book brings together a global, inter-disciplinary view of territorial disputes. The book reviews the key conceptual elements central to legal and political sciences with regards to territorial disputes: state, sovereignty and self-determination. Looking at some of the current long-standing disputes worldwide, it compares and contrasts the many issues at stake and the potential remedies currently available in order to assess why some territorial disputes remain unresolved. Finally, it offers a set of guidelines for dispute settlement and conflict resolution that current remedies fail to provide. It will appeal to students and scholars working in international relations, legal theory and jurisprudence, public international law and political sciences.

In September 1996, members of the right-wing Japan Youth Federation repaired a lighthouse on one of the Diaoyu (J. Senkaku) Islands, a small group of uninhabited islets north of Taiwan in the Liuqiu (J. Ryukyu) chain, known today as Okinawa. For months, outraged ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong and Taiwan protested Japan’s presence in the islands, and violent confrontations between protesters and the Japanese Marine Self-Defense Force resulted. Tension over these incidents has subsided since 1996, but the sovereignty of the islands remains a concern for both China and Japan. The long and complex history of relations between the two countries has made the problem difficult to resolve. This volatile situation has been further complicated by the involvement of other countries, including the U.S. Although the Diaoyu/Senkaku matter may be characterized as a simple territorial dispute between two nations, it exposes complicated geopolitical relations among Japan, China, Taiwan, and the U.S. in the Asia-Pacific region. Sovereign Rights and Territorial Space in Sino-Japanese Relations is an investigation of the highly topical issues involved in the Diaoyu/Senkaku confrontation. It begins by addressing the issue of the historical development of the dispute: To whom do the islands belong? When did China and Japan become involved? Does historical evidence prove who has sovereignty over the islands? How has irredentism (the claim to territory based on one or another historical “right”) become a major state policy in both countries? Other issues center on Chinese views of sovereignty and methods of delimiting territorial boundaries during the Ming and Qing periods, the Chinese concept of hegemony, and the history behind the deep mistrust that permeates Sino-Japanese relations. Finally, the author discloses the interwoven relationship between geography and history in East Asia. Chinese and Japanese geographers have for centuries been engaged in historical analyses of the islands. Their work, which has been used in the development of national security and diplomatic policies, is an important resource and one that this book makes available to Western scholars for the first time. In addition to his careful examination of these and other sources, Suganuma utilizes theoretical writings on geographical irredentism to expose the biases of recent work on the Diaoyu/Senkaku dispute. This volume is the fullest scholarly treatment that the contested issue of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands has received to date in any language. It contains much of interest for historians of modern China and Japan as well as for political scientists looking for new insights into international relations and Sino-Japanese interactions. No one who reads it will look at sovereignty in the same way again.

International law is not static; it develops constantly. Namibia is classic case, illustrating the changing law of nations. International Law and the Protection of Namibia's Territorial Integrity: Boundaries and Territorial Claims demonstrates this with an analysis of the legal and factual elements present in the creation, boundaries and territorial claims of Namibia, and the determinations of the League of Nations and the political organs of the United Nations which developed and clarified the rules of international law. Nambia's unique international status and diplomatic history requires the consideration of a large number of different topics within public international law. Some of these issues are very complex and technical, as they involve major questions of international law and politics. Through the use of primary sources, case law, state practice and the opinions of eminent jurists, the author addresses these challenging and revealing issues. Anyone interested in public international law, international relations, political science, history, or geography will appreciate the way that this work covers the interesting and informative changes in this revealing nation.

Gail Lythgoe challenges readers to reconsider the territoriality of the contemporary global order. This study sits at the intersection between international law, geography, and global governance, examining the spatial assumptions of legal practice and power and offering a new legal account of territory and geography for the global order.

International watercourse law differs from the national laws of most countries. It was of little consequence until the Industrial Revolution but as resources have become scarcer it has taken on a much greater political and economic significance. Ibrahim Kaya's study addresses the key issues.

1.4 DE FACTO STATELESSNESS.

This research companion has three complementary aims. First, to offer an overview of the current theoretical approaches to secession in the social sciences, international relations, legal theory, political theory and applied ethics. Second, to outline the current practice of international recognition of secession and current domestic and international laws which regulate secession. Third, to offer an account of major secessionist movements - past and present - from a comparative perspective.