Territorial Disputes

Nunez, Jorge ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2112-100X (2024) Territorial Disputes. In: The Oxford Handbook of International Law and the Americas. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780197661093

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Abstract

The chapter presents and evaluates territorial disputes in the Americas. In order to bring together a coherent and cohesive legal hermeneutical and historical discourse, the first two sections introduce the concept of territorial dispute and demonstrate that most of the differences in the Americas have roots in colonial times. By accepting their multidimensional nature, the acknowledgement is that territorial disputes may have several issues at stake, the involved agents may have a wide range of claims and there may be different interlinked contexts (domestic, regional, and international). The third and fourth sections focus on post-independence differences and reasons for peacebuilding. Importantly, the chapter shows that, although the claiming parties may achieve a settlement, domestic, regional and international issues at stake may still turn the situation volatile, and regional guarantors are key in peacekeeping. The fifth section explores still ongoing cases such as the Falklands/Malvinas, Guantanamo and the Caribbean Sea. The chapter finishes by highlighting that the disputes in the Americas are multi-faceted and multi-layered, they include indigenous and implanted populations. and that colonial roots are coupled with new developments in law such as the notion of “right-peopling,” the Law of the Sea and new factual factors like new technologies.