South asia, pakistan, india, nepal, bhutan, bangladesh, china introduction. In the standard model of geopolitics, international borders are clearly delineated, onedimensional lines that absolutely separate sovereign states. Broadly speaking, this book recounts and analyses three intraregional and extraregional land and maritime border conflicts involving southeast asia, namely preah vihear spat between thailand and cambodia, koh tral island dispute between vietnam and. Pdf translating critical border studies in east asia jason young pdf a critical development of border studies fuminori kawakubo pdf jtms volume 2 number 1. Border disputes and conflict potential, icg asia report no 33, icg, oshbrussels full text pdf 1 mb 41 pages.
The authors, academics from europe and east asia, particularly address the. The data used for the map came from wikipedias list of territorial disputes. It poses a threat to the political stability of south asia and the economic wellbeing of the countries involved. With the growing population, industrial, agricultural and domestic uses, glaciers are melting, and environment is degrading, resultantly, the rivers are. This epic map shows the border disputes that could tear asia apart. Pdf managing border disputes in southeast asia researchgate. Territorial disputes in asia francesco mancini territorial disputes in asia remain a serious challenge to peace, stability, and prosperity of the region. While the territorial disputes in the south china sea have been in the international spotlights in the last years, other dangerous territorial rows have attracted less attention. It highlights the challenges of water development such as mismanagement of shared water resources and suggests ways to overcome watersharing disputes in south asia and promote peaceful coexistence.
Nonetheless, the failure to resolve border issues prevents neighbours from normalising relations and dealing with pressing social and economic issues. Territorial disputes in northeast asia asia dialogue. Each of this second set of countries has been involved in at. In asia today, geopolitical shifts, natural resources, and environmental degradation are a source of concern. In 20, the senate unanimously passed a resolution s. Holsti 1991 offers a nice introduction to the topic by presenting data on wars for several centuries and summarizing the issues over which countries fight. For the past decade russia, china, uzbekistan, kyrgyzstan, tajikistan, turkmenistan and kazakhstan have all been involved in high stakes negotiations to define their respective borders. Boundaries have been blurred since geological time and so it has been culturally in the most. Dec 14, 2017 the kyrgyz governments special envoy on border issues, kurbanbai iskandarov, told rferl that there are still 36 sectors along the border that are disputed, in the osh, jalalabad, and batken. Add russia and the us in the mix and the importance of northeast asia cannot be overstated.
Diehl 1992 discusses work on the issuebased approach to international conflict, including territorial. Maritime boundaries delimitation and dispute resolution in africa. How the kashmir dispute affects security in south asia. Other territorial disputes exist between japan and south korea in the sea of. One such border is between india and bangladesh, where, in august 1947, suddenly people were told that the places they used to visit on a daily basis were now a part of a different sovereign country.
Apart from its impact on growth and development through greater integration, cross. Moscow established administrative borders of its central asian republics in the mid1920s, which followed neither natural geographic boundaries nor strict ethnic lines. Aug 07, 2017 india and china have a history of disputes along their border, a rugged 2,500mile frontier extending from the himalayas in the east to south and central asia to the west. The complexities of border conflicts in south asia sage journals. Since major economic activity is agriculture and water being the most important determinant of agriculture and also for other activities. Issues for congress congressional research service the 1th congress has held several hearings on the issues surrounding maritime disputes in east asia.
However in the past week three border regions in south asia have seen increasing diplomatic and military posturing perhaps pointing to increasing tensions in the region. This book argues that borders construct the identity of an individual or a group. Besides inflexible borders, the kashmir conflict forms another principle factor of political uncertainty in south asia. Aug 08, 2015 the map map above shows all countries in red that have territorial disputes with at least one other country. And, because both india and pakistan have nuclear weapons, the kashmir conflict has the potential to lead to. South asia working paper series printed on recycled paper regional cooperation and integration through cross border infrastructure development in south asia impact on poverty this paper examines the poverty reduction potential of regional cooperation in cross border infrastructure in south asia and identifies priority areas for intervention. I chose the specific topic of this reportan analysis of the potential for conflict in south asia over the issue of water scarcityfrom a list of potential topics the client provided. At the heart of indiachina tensions is the dispute over territory in the aksai chin area, and tawang in the indian state of arunachal pradesh, which china claims as a part of southern tibet.
It is a virtually uninhabited highaltitude wasteland crossed by the xinjiangtibet highway. Aksai chin is located either in the indian union territory of ladakh or the chinese autonomous region of xinjiang and forms part of the kashmir conflict. The colonial origins of territorial disputes in south asia. Burkina faso and benin retain a border dispute at this 68 km 2 triangular area of land near the tripoint border with togo. Water disputes between various countries of south asian subcontinent south asia subcontinent is such region where a geopolitical entity provides a base for conflicts. Border settlement also made headway amongst the original asean members. Chinese troops hold a banner that reads youve crossed the border, please go back at the disputed border with india. These 5 border disputes are still causing trouble time. The other disputed territory lies south of the mcmahon. Uzbekistan and kyrgyzstan made a major breakthrough by resolving most of the issues related to a decadeslong border dispute earlier this year. Territorial disputes in the south china sea global. While regional attention has focused on chinas provocations in support of expansive claims in the south china sea, southeast asian governments have ignored many of their own border problems. India is at a military disadvantage in most of the border disputes with china. It has turned into the biggest military standoff between the two armies in years.
Progress on the indiabangladesh border barrier has been slower than expected, due in part to difficulties in determining precisely where the border runs. The colonial origins of territorial disputes in south asia jstor. The aim of this panel is to analyze the reasons for the various current land and maritime border disputes in southeast asia, be it. Ap, file photo pakistan and russia, the friendly disputes. Five south asia experts assess the importance of solving the kashmir dispute in relation to u. Oct 03, 2018 why chinas territorial disputes could mean war.
In this situation some states have become a trojan horse in the process while others are utilizing the existence of the disputes for their own benefits. In a speech during his november 2017 visit to southeast asia, president donald j. Thai perceptions of its border dispute with cambodia implications for south asia1 paul w. Instead it zigzags, and only one of the many surveyors markers put down in 1868 actually is on the 42nd parallel. India, china at a standstill over border dispute best. However, indias claim line in that area does not extend as far north of the karakoram mountains as the johnson line. In each section, i show that the claims based on the south.
India, pakistan, and bangladesh, the most populous countries in south asia, all face the prospect of serious water shortages. India does not recognise that pakistan and china have a common border, and claims the tract as part of the domains of the pre1947 state of kashmir and jammu. Article pdf available in southeast asian affairs 363 december 2017 with 330 reads how we measure reads. Oct, 2014 northeast asia is one of the worlds most dynamic areas in terms of economic growth and significance for global trade.
Dormant and unresolved border, land, and maritime disputes in. While china attracts most attention, japan, south korea and taiwan are all strong economies. Pdf the conflicts in the south china sea have come to dominate debates on southeast asian security and specifically on how boundary. Before and after the doklam standoff, nothing endogenous in sinoindian relations fundamentally changed, including the unresolved border disputes, the competition between china and india for influence in south asia, the longstanding tibet issue, the growing trade imbalance, the pakistan factor, and the two countries vastly different visions. Land and maritime border disputes in southeast asia. Pdf on dec 1, 2000, ramses amer and others published managing border disputes in southeast asia find, read and cite all the research you need on.
China and india still have disputes on these borders. Get more information about asia s territorial disputes at. Strongarm politics, economic pressures, shadowy backroom deals, nationalist sentiments, public dissatisfaction and an environment of mutual mistrust have marked this process. Jakob clausager jensen china and the south china sea disputes 1 abstract jensen, jakob clausager 2011 china and the south china sea disputes, master thesis in international relations, ccg, aalborg university, denmark. The dispute continues to this day, as oregon has about 31,000 acres of california, while california has about 20,000 acres of oregon. Nov 04, 2015 1 water disputes in south asia water issue is gradually becoming the prime focus between the interstate relations.
In fact, of all interstate disputes, those over territory tend to be nearly twice as likely as other issues to lead to armed conflict. Chinaindia border dispute a grim sign for stability in asia. Mar 20, 2018 apart from the border disputes, another major irritant for china has been over the dalai lama, tibets spiritual leader, who in 1959 along with tens of thousands of his disciples was granted. The recent standoff between india and china at the doklam plateau which lies at a trijunction between the india, china, and bhutan has gained much attention. Articles journal of territorial and maritime studies. For china, the polemic with north korea is just one in a long line of territorial disputes with neighbouring countries, concerning both land and maritime boundaries. Many of the current difficulties can be traced directly back to a difficult soviet legacy. Sovereignty over two separated pieces of territory has been contested between china and india. The border disputes thus lead into the situation where state to state relationships are charged and the integration process of the southeast asia is slowed down. Independence for the central asian states reopened a pandoras box of border disputes. The border should follow the 42nd parallel straight west from the 120th meridian west to the pacific. Sep 15, 20 south china sea china claims about 90 percent of the south china sea, and since 19471948 it has drawn a dotted line, now known as the ninedashed line, on maps of the region to mark out. In south east asia sea, just like any other regions conflicts still exists. By doing so, they would develop confidence to resolve border disputes, which, in turn, would culminate in geographical reunification and restoration of transkashmir ancient trade routes, the offshoots of the grand silk route connecting china and rome across the middle east, south and central asia.
The barrage is about 2240 metres long, and has a capacity of diverting 40,000 cubic feet of water per second cusecs from the ganges. Border, boundary, dispute, perception, temple abstract. English the overall purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of chinese behaviour concerning the. All countries that have ongoing territorial disputes with. Indiabangladesh border disputes history and postlba. Border disputes and conflict potential icg asia report n 33, 4 april 2002 page ii definition of national interests. Heidelberg papers in south asian and comparative politics.
Unresolved border, land and maritime disputes in southeast asia, edited by alfred gerstl and maria strasakova, sheds light on various unresolved and lingering territorial disputes in southeast asia and their reflection in current interstate relations in the region. In south asia, boundaries are blurred but borders are bona fide. There are numerous disputed borders around the world, especially in south asia, many of which stay dormant owing to a defacto status quo set by the disagreeing parties. This research has the objectives as this following. At the same time, however, similar border disputes have been exacerbated in the cases of guyana,venezuela, and colombia and in central america. Territorial disputes international relations oxford. A number of published studies provide overviews of territorial disputes as causes of war in the past few centuries. One of the betterknown border disputes on this list. This is the regions highest peak, a 2,744metre high volcano lying at the source of the yalu and tumen rivers. Chinaindia border dispute a grim sign for stability in asia july 26, 2017 5. In this article, we discuss in detail the indiachina border disputes, the recent doklam issue, various indiachina.
Border issue resolved south talpatti island edit south talpatti as it was known internationally or bangabandhu island as it was known in bangladesh or new moore island as it was known in india was a small uninhabited offshore sandbar landform in the bay of bengal, off the coast of the gangesbrahmaputra delta region. Although pakistan is a nuclear power and has the secondhighest nominal gdp in south asia, the literacy rate is only 58 percent. Additionally, there is very little cross border investment within south asia, the movement of people acrossborders is low due to conflicts and concerns about security, and infrastructure bottlenecks have left the costs of cross border trade high. Regional cooperation and integration through crossborder. Increasing water shortage has made south asia a waterstressed region. Cover unresolved border, land and maritime disputes in southeast asia.
In a 2008 meeting, it was declared that the territory was a neutral zone, neither burkinabe nor beninese. So do regional powers like russia and japan, along with more peripheral players in central asia and the south china sea. Pdf on dec 1, 2000, ramses amer and others published managing border disputes in southeast asia find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Pdf managing territorial disputes in southeast asia. The territorial dispute has caused three indopakistani wars and, in just the last decade alone, cost up to 75,000 lives. India and china have a history of disputes along their border, a rugged 2,500mile frontier extending from the himalayas in the east to south and central asia to the west. A mix of political and economic interests, normative. Conflict and cooperation on south asian water resources. At the bottom of the crater lies a lake, kilometres square and 204 metres deep, the chongji4. Preventingcountering violent extremism programming on men, women, boys and girls. Mount paektu is part of the changbaishan mountain range eternally white mountains in chinese. Those in white have no ongoing territorial disputes. There is a unique mismatch between the population and landmass of the region figure2. Unresolved border, land and maritime disputes in southeast asia is an edited volume containing 12 chapters including introduction and conclusion.
Latest asias territorial disputes the straits times. As in the subsequently following sections on the why and how of territorial disputes and their management, i begin by sketching a set of dominant assumptions about the south china sea disputes before discussing them in the light of southeast asia s bilateral, intraregional disputes. Geopolitics of water in south asia 68 historical baggage. Territorial disputes in the south china sea global conflict. Maritime boundaries delimitation and dispute resolution in africa theodore okonkwo department of public law, faculty of law, university of port harcourt, portharcourt, nigeria abstract africas borders are bestride with many challenges ranging from religious and terrorist movements to cattle rustling, military conflicts to human trafficking. These borders, therefore, are the result of war, conflict and victories while sometimes they were drawn as an outcome of diplomatic efforts and. Unresolved border, land and maritime disputes in southeast asia.
However, compared to other regions, the numbers of unresolved territorial disputes in sea is still considered small and sea is considered a relatively safe region with no violence going on due to the unresolved territorial disputes as compared to the africa region where the conflicts has involved 9 million people. The dispute began on june 16, when china accused indian border guards in the northeastern state of sikkim of crossing into its territory in southwestern tibet, in an attempt to. Chinas strategic assessment of india war on the rocks. Trump emphasized the importance of such operations, and of ensuring free and open access to the south china sea. Conflict and cooperation on so uth asian water resources 49 the farakka barrage agreement the farakka barrage problem. Frontier friction has been a recurring phenomenon in much of the world, including in south and southeast asia. Under british control at the turn of the 20th century, cyprus declared independence by 1960 at which point it was approximately 80. Add russia and the us in the mix and the importance of northeast asia. More than in other areas of the worl d, border disputes in the we s tern hem i s ph ere h ave been su bj ect to formal legal and qu a s i l egal proce s s e s,su ch as ad ju d i c a ti on and a rbi tra ti on, in wh i ch the disputing co u n tries request a neutral third party to make.