What Does International Relations Theory Tell Us About Territorial Disputes and Their Resolution?

Int Polit DOI 10.1057/s41311-017-0074-4

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

What does international relations theory tell us about territorial disputes and their resolution?

1 2 Jong Kun Choi • Yong-Soo Eun

Ó Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2017

Abstract This article explores the conditions under which territorial disputes are likely to lead to major armed conﬂicts and considers mechanisms through which territorial disputes can be resolved. In doing so, it attempts to discover the insights and suggestions that the competing major IR theories, namely neorealism, neoliberalism, and conventional constructivism, can offer. Several pathways through which to address territorial disputes are provided from the perspectives of these IR theories. In addition, the article discusses how each pathway can be employed in practice in addressing territorial disputes. In conclusion, we point out the complex and multifaceted nature of disputes over territory, arguing that their resolution calls for a synthetic interactive approach based on a combination of the values of two IR theories, liberalism and constructivism.

Keywords International relations (IRs) Á Territorial disputes Á IR theory Á Theory and practice

Introduction

States exist physically within geographical parameters. Maintaining territorial integrity is the unyielding goal of a state’s ontological security. Territorial disputes are thus difﬁcult barriers to the construction of stable interstate relations, and

& Yong-Soo Eun [email protected] Jong Kun Choi [email protected]

1 Department of Political Science and International Studies, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea 2 Department of Political Science and International Studies, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea J. K. Choi, Y.-S. Eun resolving them can significantly reduce the possibility of military conflict (Kocs 1995; Gibler 2007; Vasquez and Henehan 2011;Aran2012; Mitchell and Vasquez 2013). To be sure, it is empirically clear that not all territorial disputes culminate in war. For example, several countries, including China and Japan, have wrangled over territory in the South China Sea for centuries, but these disputes have not (yet) generated major conflicts. It is thus important to understand both under what conditions territorial disputes are more likely to lead to major armed conflicts, and how territorial disputes can be resolved peacefully. Although the field of international relations (IRs) recognizes territorial disputes as an important cause of war, there is a shortage of theoretical investigations into what mechanisms are useful and/or necessary in resolving territorial disputes. Of course, IR theory has generated insights into states’ behavioral motivation when it comes to conflict and cooperation in world politics—be it the balance of material power from a realist perspective, economic gains and ‘democratic peace’ from a liberal perspective, or identity and norms from a constructivist perspective. However, the application of these theoretical insights into the study of boundary conditions as regards the relationship between territorial disputes and war and the specific ways of resolving territorial disputes remains underdeveloped. In other words, while there is a relatively large quantity of IR literature on territorial disputes, the focus in the studies has not been on the relevance of theory. Furthermore, the existing studies pay only scant attention to appraising the manifold implications for resolving territorial disputes that can be adduced by theoretical perspectives of international politics. This article explores the conditions under which territorial disputes are likely to lead to major armed conflicts and considers the mechanisms through which territorial disputes can be resolved. We analyze what drives territorial disputes and extract real-world prescriptions for their resolution from IR theory. Empirically, our research is motivated by the recent upsurge of territorial disputes in East Asia, and therefore, most of the empirical examples are from that region,1 but our conceptual discussion is not limited to East Asia. Rather, we attempt to discover the insights and suggestions that mainstream IR theories, namely neorealism, neoliberalism, and (conventional) constructivism, can offer in relation to territorial disputes. Assuredly, contemporary IR has a theoretical palette more varied than that of these three approaches: since the third (or fourth) ‘great debate’ in the 1980s, the terrain of IR theory has become ‘richer and wider’ due to the development of post-positivism (Eun 2016a, p. 95). Nevertheless, a detailed examination of all IR theories and related variables is beyond the scope of a short piece such as this. Rather, for the purposes of systemic analysis and knowledge accumulation, it seems appropriate to zoom in on what is most frequently debated and employed in the theoretical and conceptual toolbox of IR: power (neorealism), interests and institutions (neoliberalism), and identity and norms (constructivism). Moreover, the three major IR theories are rarely subjected to comparative scrutiny in relation to territorial

1 According to Wright’s (2012) ‘Outlaw of the Sea,’ published in Foreign Affairs, the number of territorial disputes in East Asia has increased dramatically in recent years: for example, between 2000 and 2010, there were 45 territorial disputes, whereas there had only been nine between 1950 and 1990. What does international relations theory tell us about… disputes, and especially their resolution. To rectify this serious problem, we focus our attention on these theories’ prescriptive insights regarding territorial disputes and compare their plausibility. More specifically, the article first briefly discusses the political weight of territorial disputes in international relations and the relationship between territorial disputes and war. While noting that not all territorial disputes escalate to war, the article pays particular attention to the conditions under which the relationship between territorial disputes and war is expected to be closely interwoven. Having specified the scope conditions, we focus on how territorial disputes can be resolved. Here, several possible pathways regarding how to manage and resolve territorial disputes are provided from the perspective of the three mainstream IR theories. Further, we discuss how each pathway can be employed in practice in addressing territorial disputes. In conclusion, we point out the complex and multifaceted nature of disputes over territory, arguing that the resolution of territorial disputes calls for a synthetic interactive approach based on a combination of the values underlying two IR theories, liberalism and constructivism.

Territorial disputes and war: a nonlinear relationship

Why is territory important? Why do states become involved in territorial disputes and seem to be less able to resolve them than other disputes? Answers to these questions appear rather obvious. No rational state will voluntarily give up the territory that defines the physical parameters of its sovereignty; hence, territorial disputes are difficult to resolve. In short, states have the intrinsic desire to control territory precisely because such control affects the material and perceptual elements of state entities (Carter and Goesman 2011). Territorial disputes can be defined as an explicit expression of disagreement between states over the location of borders or ownership of ‘territory including islands but excluding maritime demarcation disputes over exclusive economic zones’ (Huth and Allee 2002, p. 298). Although territorial disputes, over both land and offshore areas, differ and vary in scale, history, and the number of involved states, there are more or less common elements to the tangible and intangible factors that influence them. These factors encompass both material attributes—i.e., the size of the disputed area, the population therein, natural resources, and the number of population killed and/or wounded—and ideational or institutional attributes (historic animosity, cultural differences, and third-party involvement). At base, the variety in these factors is due to the fact that the meanings or values embedded in territory as such are essentially diverse. Territory, as a piece of land, has tangible or real value that results from its residing population, natural resources, and strategic location. Conflict over the control of oil reserves and pipelines, freshwater sources, ocean fish stock, and arable land, all of which are of great significance in an era of intensified global consumption, tend to concentrate in conflict over territory. Put simply, territory and territorial issues involve various types of values and can thus give rise to state conflicts in diverse realms. At the same time, however, the very same piece of land J. K. Choi, Y.-S. Eun may also have intangible, perceptual, symbolic, relational, and even sentimental value. States attach historical, religious, social, and cultural significance to a particular piece of land. For example, conflicts over Northern Ireland, Kosovo, and Kurdistan fundamentally raise issues of territorial control grafted onto broader concerns of ethnicity, religion, and historical memory. Given the weight of territorial issues associated with both tangible and intangible values, it is not surprising that territorial disputes have been associated with armed conflict more frequently than any other issue in world politics and that armed conflicts over territory are more likely to escalate to wars. States do not shy away from disputing over territory, no matter how small that territory is. We can see that many existing territorial disputes, particularly in Northeast Asia, essentially involve small rock islands and/or a geographically small piece of land. Put otherwise, territorial disputes are a key variable producing interstate conflict involving the use of force and leading to the outbreak of major war (Vasquez and Henehan 2001). It is also known that states rarely come to an agreement over territorial disputes (Hensel 1994; Starr 2013). Moreover, in resolving territorial disputes, if a concerned state uses coercive strategies, other states tend to respond in a similar manner (Senese 1996); this, in turn, sparks an arms race and can escalate to war (Colaresi and Thompson 2002). All of this makes territorial disputes one of the most common sources of interstate wars and militarized conflicts (Vasquez 1993; Holsti 1991; Hensel 2012). Nonetheless, it is important to reiterate that territorial disputes per se do not necessarily result in military conflicts. The relevant empirical studies indicate that 129 territorial disputes occurred during the Cold War period, yet about a half of them did not involve the threat or use of military force (Huth 1996, p. 8). There is also a recent tendency for territorial disputes to escalate to war less frequently (McLaughlin 1999). These nonlinear dynamics of territorial disputes raise the following delicate and important question: under what conditions are territorial disputes more likely to lead to war? This question seems to capture the essence of the problem. Put formally, we need specific knowledge of boundary and scope conditions with respect to the likelihood that territorial disputes will escalate to major armed conflicts. And such specific knowledge can help us discern the mechanisms through which territorial disputes can be managed and resolved without resorting to war. With this in mind, the following survey first examines two main aspects of territorial disputes, namely material and ideational values, in order to identify what factors or conditions exist within the relationship between war and territorial disputes.

Material values

It is obvious that state territory has certain tangible/material properties. Territory confers strategic and economic benefits in that it offers control of trade or communications routes (Dalby 2002; Gleditsch 1998). It can also improve a state’s military position relative to its rival or neighboring states simply because states extract material gains from territory. As such, states suffering from resource scarcity What does international relations theory tell us about… are more likely to become involved in territorial disputes and try to win the disputes in order to ameliorate their relative weakness (O’Lear 2005). In other words, territorial disputes can emerge from an uneven distribution of natural resources. Relatedly, if a territory in dispute is known to possess globally valued resources and such resources contribute to power dynamics (e.g., state-to-state conflict over access to these resources, or resource-funded sub-state rebellion as a challenge to state sovereignty), territorial disputes tend to linger and become hard to resolve unless one state overwhelms the other by force. In short, the issue of territory becomes more salient if the area is known to possess valuable natural resources such as oil, minerals, or natural gas (Barnett 2000). As Taylor Fravel notes, states are ‘more prone to use force in disputes over land highly valued for its strategic importance, economic potential, or symbolic significance, or when they are stronger militarily than their adversary’ (Fravel 2007/08, p. 46). Surely, not all states, even those desperate for the material benefits associated with territory, end up waging war over their territorial disputes. Here, it is worth recalling the insights of early security theorists. They emphasized the role of contiguity in relation to territory and war. More specifically, if the ownership of a territory that has significant material resources is claimed by more than two states that share borders, then conflicts between them are more likely, because of enhanced military access and greater opportunities for intervention. For example, Diehl analyzed the effect of geographic location on the likelihood of territorial disputes that would escalate to war (Diehl 1991). According to his analysis, of the 50 territorial conflicts over geographically contiguous areas involving major power rivals between 1816 and 1980, 12 escalated to war. But of the 54 noncontiguous territorial disputes involving major power rivals over the same period, only one escalated to war. Bremer also argued that war was about 35 times more likely among geographically contiguous states than between noncontiguous states in any given year from 1816 to 1965 (Bremer 1992). Given this, it seems that geographical contiguity, the material values that territory can offer, and territorial disputes are closely associated with war.

Ideational values

The importance of territory is not exclusively limited to its material and strategic value. States also value territories for intangible (such as historical and sentimental) reasons. Although these intangible values may appear superficial, they do have a real impact on states’ behavior in regard to territorial disputes (Goertz and Diehl 1992; Hensel and Mitchell 2005). As discussed earlier, territory can be seen as part of the national identity, whether because it is perceived as a religious sanctuary or cultural icon or related to ethnic origin. Indeed, even beyond the discipline of geography, there is recognition that territory is best understood as having a dynamic meaning that influences conflict—and not just in terms of ‘on–off’ features like proximity or contiguity (Starr and Thomas 2002). Territory has tangible or ‘real’ value as measured by population, resources, or the number of people killed in a conflict. The very same territory also may have intangible, symbolic, or relational value to others who equate the land with historical claims, attach religious or J. K. Choi, Y.-S. Eun cultural significance to it, or recognize third-party involvement in the dispute (Murphy 1990; Hensel 2012). Thus, if territory symbolizing such ideational values is disputed, states do not easily give up, thereby making a mutually acceptable solution difficult to achieve. This is because territory often coincides with national identity and thus nationalism. People tend to equate themselves with a particular territory and identify territory as belonging to part of their own history and civilization. Numerous events in the history of world politics show that we equate defense of the collectivity with specific territories and boundaries (Hensel and Mitchell 2017). In this regard, much the same can be said about rivalry: it can also be understood in perceptual and emotional terms. It is often said that the most dangerous territorial contests intertwine with rivalry and that territorial issues between nonrivals are less difficult to manage (Rasler and Thompson 2006; Hensel 2012). Some territorial disagreements are embedded within rivalry contexts, and these disagreements are the very ones that are the most likely to develop into armed clashes. Territorial disputes between rivals act as a hair trigger for all the psychological baggage and mistrust associated with protracted antagonisms. It is not territory per se, but the mistrust of rivals’ presumed intentions, fear of domination, and the dislike of rivals that magnify territorial disputes. When contested territory is combined with rivalry, there is a greater chance of militarized conflict. In this vein, the territorial disputes in Northeast Asia showcase a complex layer of identity, power, and interest elements that limits the usefulness of legal and institutional remedies. The Dokdo/Takeshima Islands dispute between South Korea and Japan enflames South Korea’s memory of colonization as Japan, its former colonial power, continues to claim sovereignty over what Koreans perceive as their symbol of national independence. The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands dispute in the East China Sea between Japan and China has become China’s ultimate testing ground for its status as a regional hegemon, while Japan sees China’s assertiveness as an attempt to change the status quo in Asia. While these three key Asian states are enjoying the indispensable benefits of ‘economic interdependence’ (Choi 2013, p. 89), the so-called island disputes in the region exemplify how territorial disputes can involve inner and ideational issues. The above survey on territorial disputes, despite its necessary brevity, indicates clearly that territory is an important variable in generating tensions and conflicts among states and (more importantly) that territorial disputes are likely to lead to military conflicts under the following conditions: first, when the territory concerned involves highly valuable strategic and economic benefits, and second, when the states involved share borders and are rivals whose basis for rivalry involves nationalism. These points are explored in the following section, which discusses major IR theories. In addition, several possible solutions to territorial disputes from the perspectives of the mainstream theories are provided in an attempt to understand when and where each theoretical approach offers greater insights and understanding with respect to managing and resolving territorial disputes. What does international relations theory tell us about…

IR theory and the resolution of territorial disputes

We can think of several ways through which territorial disputes can be managed and/or resolved on the basis of the root assumptions that underpin theoretical perspectives in IR. The different schools of thought disagree in their substantive analysis of causes of states’ external behavior and accordingly offer different solutions to territorial disputes.

Neorealism

Neorealism holds that the distribution of material power among states defines the structure of the international system, which in turn influences how states behave in the system. This line of reasoning derives from the key assumption upon which neorealism is premised: the international system is anarchic. Waltz writes: ‘In anarchy, there is no automatic harmony … because any state may at any time use force, all states must constantly be ready either to counter force with force or to pay the cost of weakness’ (Waltz 1959, p. 60). In this regard, neorealists posit that this conflictual anarchy forces states to maximize their security by maximizing power (Mearsheimer 1994/95; Wohlforth 1999; Waltz 2000; Layne 2009). According to neorealists, states are prone to be more concerned with relative than absolute gains: states are compelled to ask not ‘Will both of us gain?, but Who will gain more?’ (Waltz 1979, p. 105). If we apply the power factor of realist theory to the issue of territorial disputes, one obvious insight is that these disputes can hardly be managed, let alone resolved diplomatically or peacefully. Going a step further, from the (offensive) realist perspective, the most effective solution to any territorial dispute may be to invade and conquer. The strong will win, and the territory will be a trophy for the victory. In short, realism argues that peace or diplomacy remains fleeting when it comes to territorial disputes and that conflict is a norm because anarchy forces states to compete with each other. Due to the absence of any formal higher authority to resolve disputes, states are inclined to protect their vital interests against external threats by balancing power with power. This trend is most visible in the territorial disputes in Northeast Asia. For example, China’s Defense Minister, General Chang Wanquan, issued a warning statement in April 2014, indicating that Beijing would never compromise on its claim to the disputed territory in the East China Sea, which is known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China: ‘China will make no compromise, no concession, no treaty. The Chinese military can assemble as soon as summoned, fight any battle and win’ (Cooper 2014). To substantiate its resolve, China has gone from a green to blue water navy, its air force is actively acquiring a cutting-edge air power platform, including fifth-generation stealth J-20 fighters, and pouring resources into anti-ship ballistic missiles specifically designed to defend its innermost defense zone—the First Island Chain, consisting of the Kuril Islands, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Borneo (Mizokami 2014). A rising China with this maximalist stance has pushed its neighboring states to look for balancing factors J. K. Choi, Y.-S. Eun in the region. For example, the Philippines has thus far welcomed ‘a rearmed Japan shorn of its pacifist constitution as a counterweight to the growing assertiveness of China’ (Pilling et al. 2012, p. 1). However, the typical behavior suggested by realist IR theory (Wohlforth 2012, p. 40), such as states’ building up of their capabilities (‘internal balancing’) or aggregating their capabilities with other states in alliances (‘external balancing’), does not bring territorial disputes to an end. Rather, it incubates future conflict, as a changing balance of power may come to favor today’s loser in the future. Furthermore, balancing power with power could produce structural conditions under which security dilemmas become the prevailing pattern of interaction between states involved in territorial disputes. Any defensive action on the part of one actor to strengthen its grasp on a disputed territory can be perceived as an offensive action by the other actor. Territories—especially disputed ones—serve to foster perceptions of aggressive intentions, and, with exaggerated perceptions of threat, states are more likely to engage in armed conflicts. Power-balancing thus ratchets up tensions and hostility between not only concerned claimants, but also neighboring states. In addition, resolving territorial disputes by force will invite strong nationalistic resistance on the part of the defeated, and it will generate lingering territorial- dispute dynamics that will last into the next generation, which will further intensify the existing security dilemmas. Given the above discussion, there is a need to examine the issue of territorial disputes from other theoretical perspectives that employ other logics and assumptions. To this end, let us look first at neoliberal IR theory, which takes a very different view of international relations, especially regarding the effect of institutions and trade on state behavior.

Neoliberalism

While IR realists characterize international relations as an endless succession of wars due to states’ need to accumulate the material power to be secure in a self-help world, liberal theory implies that cooperation is more pervasive than realism allows. In the liberal view, states cooperate because cooperation yields better prospects for their prosperity and relational stability in world politics. Based on this assumption, liberals, particularly neoliberal IR scholars, posit that the success of international cooperation depends largely on two factors: international institutions and economic interdependence. They argue that international institutions and interdependence can enable states to forego short-term advantages and discourage them from using force against each other (Nye 1993; Baldwin 1993). On the basis of neoliberalism, several pathways for addressing territorial disputes can be proposed. First, economic liberalism supplies support for the proposition that states’ conscious effort to deepen and widen economic ties with those with whom they have been engaged in territorial disputes will increase their motivation to remain cooperative. ‘The greater the volume of trade and investment flowing between two countries’ (Papayoanou 1996, p. 45), the more that groups on both sides have a vested interest in avoiding conflict between them due to the economic gains at stake. Further, international economic ties—which involve various social What does international relations theory tell us about… and political groups at both the domestic and international levels—often act as powerful constraints on national leaders when it comes to making policy, especially regarding countries with which they are economically interdependent, because ‘economic interest groups and the society at large as voters’ affect national leaders’ political actions (Papayoanou 1996, pp. 44–46). For these reasons, when national leaders make policy decisions, including those concerning territorial disputes, they become more cautious and prudent. Stated more succinctly, economic ties between states involved in territorial disputes can work as a buffer between them. Although its implications for territorial disputes are not inconsequential, economic liberalism is not well suited to addressing the problems of territorial disputes per se. First, the remedy it proposes, namely deepening and widening economic interdependence, is not a specific and direct measure aimed at resolving territorial disputes. Furthermore, economic ties can also have negative conse- quences on states involved in a territorial dispute. The 2010 trade embargo imposed by China on Japan is a case in point. Since China produces more than 90 percent of the world’s supply of rare earth materials, which are ‘crucial for a wide range of technologies, including hard drives, solar panels, and motors for hybrid vehicles’ (Aston 2010, p. 1), and thus crucial to the economy, Japan’s trade dependence on China is significant; this enabled Beijing to impose an embargo on shipments of rare earth materials to Japan in response to the growing tensions over the disputed islands (Bradsher 2010; Kurashige 2012). In short, depending on the level of interdependence, trade can be deployed as political ‘leverage in a territorial dispute’ (Bell 2012, p. 1). As Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye aptly explain, under the condition of ‘asymmetric interdependence,’ the less dependent party may have a ‘source of power’ in relation to the ‘more dependent party’ (Keohane and Nye 2001, pp. 10–13). Let us, then, turn to liberal institutionalism. The centerpiece of liberal institutionalism is international institutions, or, more to the point, the role of institutions in obviating or mitigating conflict. Although institutions cannot eliminate anarchy, they can nevertheless influence states’ preferences and thereby their actions. According to liberal institutionalism, international institutions do this ‘through a variety of methods that either create strong incentives for cooperation like favorable trade status, or through powerful disincentives like trade sanctions’ (Navari 2008, p. 39). The core of neoliberal institutionalism is the concept of transaction costs. These include ‘the costliness of information, the costs of measuring the valuable attributes of what is being exchanged and the costs of protecting rights and policing and enforcing agreements’ (North 1990, pp. 27–28). Even though international institutions impose certain constraints on sovereign states, they reduce ‘transaction costs associated with rule-making, negotiating, implementing, enforcing, information gathering and conflict resolution’ (Keohane 1984, pp. 12–14, p. 50). Institutions can also serve as means of providing information about their member states, which in turn helps states have a better understanding of the intentions of other states and thus reduces the uncertainty inherent in anarchic international politics. It is in this respect that a number of liberal institutionalists argue that ‘international actors should promote institutionalization as a means of promoting the collective interest in international stability’ J. K. Choi, Y.-S. Eun

(Navari 2008, p. 43). In short, institutions and institutionalization can alleviate fears of betrayal and mistrust embedded in anarchy, which can in turn prevent states from engaging in disputes and wars. With the precept of liberal institutionalism, two specific sorts of institutions (or approaches to institutionalization) can be presented to help solve the problems associated with territorial disputes, namely bilateral and multilateral institutions, for consultation, management, and negotiation. As one can imagine, the bilateral form of institution is a very specific and direct approach to territorial disputes from the liberal institutionalist perceptive. It is often aimed both at demarcating state borders in order to remove sources of conflict among neighboring states and at maintaining the status quo and stabilizing the situation in areas of disputes. This management may take place when the states involved aim to improve their current relations in the hopes of increasing trade, strategic partnerships, and sociocultural exchanges that both states perceive as mutually beneficial (Wang 2003). Therefore, as long as bilateral institutionalized settings exist, they can lower the probability that such disputes will escalate to a major armed conflict, as these institutions allow the states involved to meet directly and regularly. And this, in turn, enables close monitoring of the dispute and ensures better awareness among the parties to the dispute of each other’s intentions. Hence, in Keohane’s words, bilateral institutions help provide ‘focal points’ on which competing actors may agree (Keohane 2012, p. 128). Viewed in this light, bilateral institutional approaches seem to be an effective way of resolving territorial disputes. Iterated meetings can also take place through multilateral institutional arrangements. However, multilateral institutions will be effective only if the states involved in the dispute accept the organization’s efficacy and legitimacy in managing territorial disputes. This is so because the multilateral institutional approach to territorial disputes essentially involves third parties that encourage bilateral settlement of disputes while acting in the role of arbiter. Moreover, for this approach to work, the conflictual intensity of the territorial dispute must be relatively low. Actual and strong commitment on the part of the enforcer and mutual agreement between the states involved in the dispute are also required for effective enforcement through multilateral/third-party intervention. In this regard, multilateral institutions are often regarded as less effective in resolving territorial deputes, given the fact that the multiple actors involved usually have different preferences, yet such institutions can be more effective when it comes to preventing deputes from leading to war for that same reason. For example, less effort as regards hedging against possible defections is needed in multilateral arrangements than in bilateral settings, because more actors are involved in monitoring states’ compliance with their commitments. Therefore, different institutional arrangements are necessary to address different types of conflict and cooperation problems. As seen above, liberalism in general and liberal institutionalism in particular yield important insights. Nonetheless, one should not consider that such theoretical perspectives offer a satisfactory basis upon which to resolve territorial disputes, since they mainly focus on the material aspects of states’ interactions, on the premise that states behave rationally when engaging in cost–benefit analysis. Recall the ideational values and perceptual factors related to territory and territorial What does international relations theory tell us about… disputes discussed earlier. As recent events in regard to the East Asian territorial disputes—especially between China and Japan over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands, and South Korea and Japan over the Dokdo/Takeshima Islands—have demonstrated, the danger of escalating to war seems to be greater when ideational significance—i.e., nationalism—is attached to the disputed territory, no matter how small or insignificant the territory is from a material and rational perspective (Choi 2013). This takes us to a consideration of constructivist IR theory, which challenges the predominant rationalist mode of analysis, arguing that rationalists—including both realists and liberals—ignore or downplay the role of identity and social norms in international relations.

Constructivism

Contra realism and liberalism, constructivism emphasizes the importance of a range of intangible, ideational values ‘social, cultural, and historical factors that encourage particular forms of meaning to be given to different actors and their intentions’ (McDonald 2008, p. 67). According to constructivism, perceptual and ideational factors, such as national identity, form our conceptions of who we are and what we value; they in turn determine the content of states’ interests and therefore the way they will ‘act’ in global politics. Identities construct ‘a particular set of interests or preferences with respect to choices of action’ in disputed territory situations (Hopf 1998, p. 175). A nation’s prevailing discourse(s) and its historical experiences or cultural context define its identity and interests, which affect how it behaves in world politics. In regard to security and territorial disputes, conceptions of who we are and what we value encourage particular ways of thinking about where threats to those values come from, what form they take, and how they might be dealt with (Fierke 2007; Wendt 1992). Viewed in this light, territorial disputes involve more than states’ material interests. Instead, they reflect the relational identity of the self and the other. A disputed territory can become an icon of past history and present identity. In particular, a territory that had once been invaded tends to lead people to become emotionally attached to the territory (Eun 2016b, p. 80). Power and interest in territorial disputes may cause and resolve territorial disputes at the dyadic level. However, power and interest do not provide satisfactory explanations of why dyadic disputes involving territory continue to linger, or why people and leaders become emotionally attached to the territory in question. According to social psychology explanations, people have the instinctive tendency to understand themselves as territorial creatures (Buss 1995; Brown and Baer 2015). This tendency is deeply ingrained in a society’s collective conscience, cultural heritage, and teaching and learning. The ongoing dispute between Japan and South Korea over the Dokdo/Takeshima Islands is a good example here. For Koreans, the islands have become an integral part of their national identity as a symbol of the past colonial period and their recovered sovereignty. Any claims to the islands by its former colonizer, Japan, are thus interpreted as a direct threat to Korea’s identity and territorial autonomy. By perceiving the disputed islands not only in legal terms, but also in terms of identity, Koreans tend to become emotional and more accepting J. K. Choi, Y.-S. Eun of risk, willing to fight for the small and uninhabited islands against the former perpetrator. Aside from identity—i.e., a perception of who we are—the most prominent ideational dimension of world politics addressed by constructivist theory is the role of norms (Hofmann and Yeo 2014; Katzenstein 1996). Norms can be defined as shared expectations about appropriate or legitimate behavior by actors with a particular identity. In the context of international relations, this is applied to dominant ideas about what constitutes appropriate behavior for the key members of international society: states. In this sense, constructivism in IR is concerned with how international norms evolve and come to provide constraints on acceptable state behavior (Jepperson 1996, 3; Finnemore 1996; Epstein 2011). Relatedly, some constructivist IR scholars have explored the possibilities for the development of ‘security communities,’ namely groups of states for whom the use of force in resolving disputes between each other has become unthinkable over time (Adler and Barnett 1998). In short, while realism and liberalism focus on the material factors of state behavior, such as a state’s capabilities, geography, or international trade and institutions, constructivist approaches emphasize the importance of a range of social, cultural, and historical—i.e., ideational—factors that encourage particular forms of meaning to be given to different actors and their intentions. The question is what concrete measures can be taken to address territorial disputes on the basis of constructivist theory? The first is the development of benign norms to manage interstate competition and disputes. As noted, shared norms or ideas provide limits to ‘acceptable’ state behavior. In other words, they significantly constrain and/or facilitate the manner in which issues are defined, the range of options that may be considered, and the decisions and choices that states make. Once peaceful norms are established, they act as constraints on and disincentives for conflictual types of foreign-policy behavior, since states ‘develop their relations with, and understandings of, others through the media of norms and practices’ (Hopf 1998, p. 173). Secondly, the creation of political communities that maintain ‘intersubjective’ identities, namely common understandings and beliefs about actors and their intentions, can be considered another constructivist pathway through which to address disputes over territory. When ‘intersubjective’ identities are established in a certain community of world politics, states have motivations to designate other states as ‘friends’ and approach them as such. European security cooperation since the Second World War can be seen here as ‘emblematic of the possibility of building alternative security futures through the development … of shared norms’ and intersubjective identities (McDonald 2008, p. 67). In a related vein, constructivism, particularly conventional constructivism, often suggests that we should look for intersubjective communities in world politics, domains within which states share understandings of themselves and each other (Biersteker and Weber 1996: Weber 1995). Following from the foregoing constructivist suggestions, a critical and delicate question emerges. How can cooperative norms and intersubjective identities that help manage and resolve disputes among states be established? In order for states to share cooperative norms and common understandings—or, more to the point, in What does international relations theory tell us about… order for states involved in (territorial) disputes to share benign ideas and beliefs with respect to each other—a discourse upon which such ideas and beliefs is grounded should be generated a priori. Discourse has a certain capacity to (re)shape how we understand ourselves and others, and to define what is appropriate for our interests, and thus to affect our behavior (George 1994; Epstein 2008). Stated differently, discourse reflects and shapes identities and interests and establishes accepted norms of behavior. Discourse leads to a common interpretation of reality; certain ‘representations’ of issues or domains are established through discourse (Wendt 1999, p. 56). In short, discourse among states is a key ingredient in the formation of a particular identity and norm within a community in which those states interact. This implies that, if discourse associated with cooperation, coordination, and common interests prevails within that community, then cooperative norms and common understandings among its members are created, which in turn discourages them from relying on aggressive strategies or engaging in conflictual action in regard to disputed issues. Here, top-down and bottom-up approaches can be considered specific ways of engendering such discourse of cooperation. The former refers to the role of top policymakers committed to negotiation and coordination, while the latter refers to the importance of actors at the grassroots level, such as NGOs or intellectuals. A discourse of cooperation prevailing in the societies of the states involved in territorial disputes will prevent any drastic behavior and lay a basis for a confidence-building regime to manage territorial disputes. Such a regime would involve more than two claimants, which does not necessarily require a formal and institutionalized setting: constructivists conceptualize ‘institutions as a collection of norms, rules and routines, rather than a formal structure’ (Adler et al. 2006, p. 55). Such a confidence-building regime, based on cooperative norms and shared understandings, is able to function as a conflict-prevention mechanism and settlement-encouraging framework. As compared with the suggestions from the perspectives of neorealism and neoliberalism presented earlier, suggestions from the constructivist perspective seem to excel at addressing the ideational dimension of territorial disputes, including nationalism. As already discussed, territorial disputes tend to be intertwined with the question of national identity, since states often perceive and identify the area of dispute as a crucial part of their history or dignity. However, the constructivist pathway is an indirect one. For example, within a confidence-building regime, territorial disputes are to be treated as one of many other regional security issues, and such a regime would attempt to incubate a more stability-oriented regional order, thereby making it unlikely that territorial disputes will escalate. This strategy is oriented more toward management than settlement. Yet, in terms of resolving territorial disputes, direct negotiations between the states concerned are not only useful, but often also necessary. Furthermore, by its nature, an approach based on constructivism—which involves the formation of discourses of cooperation, benign norms, and common understandings—is part of a long ‘historical’ as well as social process (Checkel 1998), whereas disputes over territory tend to escalate to physical conflict more easily and quickly than other security issues. J. K. Choi, Y.-S. Eun

Theoretical implications and practical suggestions

Can IR theory solve the daunting problem of territorial disputes associated with material and ideational values and concerns? A clear-cut answer is yet to be discovered. It might be beyond the scope of any IR theory aimed at explaining and understanding, rather than prescribing, the reality of international politics. Nonetheless, our discussion with respect to the mainstream theoretical perspectives in the ﬁeld of IR thus far shows that IR theory can work as a useful guide to addressing territorial disputes. Put otherwise, although they are far from the Holy Grail of perfect solutions, their theoretical knowledge and implications are surely conducive to offering guidelines on how to approach, manage, and resolve disputes over territory. In this respect, the following section will draw out important implications that ﬂow from the IR theories examined above for both the study of territorial disputes and the practice of their resolution.

Theoretical implications for the study of territorial disputes

This article has first examined why and (particularly) when territorial disputes matter by reviewing the relevant literature and examining mainstream IR theories. And the results harvested from the survey show that multiple factors derived from both the material and ideational aspects of states’ interactions—i.e., strategic and economic benefits, geographical contiguity/proximity, nationalism, rivalry, mistrust—are related to territorial disputes. As such, we need to think of territorial disputes in multifactorial terms (see Table 1). Even more importantly, the investigation also suggests that although territory is an important variable in generating tensions and conflicts between states, not all territorial disputes result in the outbreak of war. Specifically, a territorial dispute is likely to lead to military conflict when it involves highly valuable strategic and economic benefits and/or rivalry between states, especially those that share borders with each other, and when the territory in question is tied to issues of identity. In other words, when the material interests of the contested territory are connected with ideational values (and vice versa), the likelihood that territorial disputes will escalate to war is increased. This point is presented in a summary form in Table 2. To be sure, there are other configurations of conditions under which territorial disputes can lead to armed conflict. For example, if IVIs are high—even though associated MVIs remain low—the states involved will remain vulnerable to misperceptions in both word and deed with respect to the territory, which may

Table 1 Multiple dimensions and factors associated with territorial disputes Dimensions Major factors deduced from mainstream IR The IR theories theories considered

Material values and Strategic and economic beneﬁts, geographical Neorealism, interests proximity neoliberalism Ideational values and Nationalism, rivalry, mistrust Constructivism interests What does international relations theory tell us about…

Table 2 ‘Ideal-type’ conditions strengthening the nexus between territorial disputes and war Dimensions Major factors Degree: high versus low

Material values and interests (MVIs) Strategic and economic beneﬁts, HL geographical proximity Ideational values and interests (IVIs) Nationalism, rivalry, mistrust H L Theoretically expected outcomes Most likely Least likely increase the danger of war. A slightly safer conﬁguration that can be gleaned from Table 2 is one in which high MVIs but few IVIs are attached to the contested territory. In this situation, territorial disputes are more likely to remain manageable. Taken as a whole, then, our analysis of when territorial disputes give rise to war and how the disputes can be resolved ought to be subjected to further theoretical and empirical investigation. However, this by no means suggests that we as scholars and practitioners need to consider all the explanatory levels of IR theory and all the conceivable matrices of the escalation of territorial disputes to war. This is simply impossible. In the end, as David Singer has aptly put it, the goal here is not to have ‘total representational accuracy,’ but to ‘decide where distortion is least dysfunctional and where such accuracy is absolutely essential’ (Singer 1961, 79). In this respect, we need to focus analytical attention and practical resources on the matrix that most likely leads from territorial disputes to war, namely that both MVIs and IVIs are high. How territorial disputes can be resolved also needs to be examined within this context.

Practical suggestions for the resolution of territorial disputes

This article has first discussed the nature of the solutions each of the three major IR theories can offer. Based on the assumption that international affairs are a constant struggle for power among self-interested states, neorealism suggests a balance of power, yet, as already noted, its suggestion would increase tensions and hostility not only between concerned claimants, but among neighboring states as well. Rather, the realist approach to territorial disputes is likely to lead to arms races and a security dilemma, which in turn can cause interstate or regional wars. This helps us recognize that the suggestions proposed by scholars and policymakers wedded to realism are not attractive options to any state hoping to resolve territorial disputes peacefully and that we thus need to search for alternatives, turning our focus to theoretical perspectives that hold different assumptions and logic, neoliberalism and constructivism. Our foregoing discussion on these alternative theories has demonstrated that their respective solutions—namely the development of institutions and deepening interdependence, and the creation of cooperative norms and common understandings—are useful in addressing territorial disputes by alleviating fears of betrayal or mistrust and enhancing mutual understanding. They are better able to find a solution to the problem of territorial disputes than is realism. The appraisal of liberalism and constructivism, however, has also indicated that both propose only approximate J. K. Choi, Y.-S. Eun solutions to the problem. In other words, their measures are not sufficient on their own to provide satisfactory answers to the problem of territorial disputes. As the discussion has shown, the liberal approach falls short of dealing with the ideational aspect of territorial disputes, while the constructivist pathway is unable to establish the formal, direct setting often necessary for negotiations and compromises between states. What this brief summary implies is fairly straightforward: a synthetic interactive framework based on the combination of values from different IR theories, particularly liberalism and constructivism, is best suited to resolving territorial disputes in the sense that their proposed solutions can (and should) be supplemented by each other. Such an integrated, comprehensive framework will be able to encourage rigor in making solutions, enhance the efficacy of the solutions, and increase the likelihood that more satisfying and peaceful results will be obtained. This is especially so given the complex nature of territorial disputes. For example, if both claimants perceive the territory in terms of tangible (material) values, such as natural resources, then peaceful division, or at least joint development, is possible, even if the material interests involved are high, due to the simple fact that physical and material resources are divisible. However, because of the possibility of betrayal lingering on in the anarchy of world politics, states may not be willing to commit themselves to joint development unless mutual trust is built. That is, territorial division is not a feasible solution without a prior buildup of mutual trust. This mutual trust requires international or regional institutions in which iterated meetings take place and uncertainty and the possibility of betrayal can be reduced. In addition, if the territory in dispute is associated with ideational—i.e., symbolic and historic—values and concerns, then the states involved will not give up their respective claims easily even if there exist formal, direct institutions aimed at building mutual trust and facilitating negotiations between concerned actors. In this case, formal, direct institutions should be accompanied by the formation of transnational and inclusive discourses and norms going beyond the existing binary and nationalistic thinking about territoriality. All of this, once again, calls for employing an integrated approach to preventing territorial disputes from escalating to war and eventually resolving them in a peaceful manner. This point is illustrated in Table 3 in a summary form.

Table 3 ‘The most likely’ way to achieve a peaceful resolution of territorial disputes Theory Actions to be taken in a parallel fashion Main actors Expected considered outcomes

Liberal- The establishment of diverse types of State governments Peaceful constructivist institutions in which direct negotiations (top policymakers) management or synthesis between concerned states can take place joint The formation of transnational and NGOs, intellectuals, development inclusive discourses on territoriality, mass media, state which in turn can lead to benign or governments cooperative norms and behavior

For a fuller exploration of the idea of synthesis in the context of methodology, see Eun (2012) What does international relations theory tell us about…

In sum, territorial disputes are a multifaceted and complex set of problems often involving both material and ideational values. As such, if IR theory is to be helpful in resolving territorial disputes, different analytical angles and divergent theoretical positions need to be integrated into a synthetic framework. Assuredly, such a framework cannot solve all of the problems of territorial disputes at once. Furthermore, any integrated approach to problem-solving—for example, a solution based on a liberal-constructivist synthesis—takes time to be formulated and implemented and thus demands that the concerned states be patient. But, to paraphrase Stanley Hoffmann’s insight, ‘impatience is the worst enemy’ of the ability to not only develop a ‘systematic theory,’ but also resolve complex real- world disputes (Hoffmann 1959, p. 349). Although a synthetic interactive approach is not a panacea, it is nevertheless a more effective tool for dealing with the reality of the complexities that pervade territorial disputes. It is, then, a challenge worth taking up.

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