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The Historical Origins of Territorial Disputes

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  • ABRAMSON, SCOTT F.
  • CARTER, DAVID B.

Abstract

Given the abundance of evidence that disputed territory matters, we know remarkably little about the origins of territorial claims. We argue that the presence of competing historical border precedents is central to the emergence of territorial claims. We outline why precedents provide opportunity to make claims and provide two possible explanations for why leaders have incentive to claim along precedents. One possibility is consistent with the conventional wisdom that incentive derives from territorial characteristics such as natural resources or strategic significance. A second and more novel explanation is that the persistent coordination effects of historical boundaries provide the incentive to draw claims along them. We use new data on the location of historical boundaries from the peace of Westphalia until the start of the French Revolution to show that historical border precedents drive the emergence of territorial claims after the Congress of Vienna and that persistent coordination effects provide incentive to dispute historical precedents.

Suggested Citation

  • Abramson, Scott F. & Carter, David B., 2016. "The Historical Origins of Territorial Disputes," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 110(4), pages 675-698, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:110:y:2016:i:04:p:675-698_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Luba Levin-Banchik, 2021. "Precrisis military hostility and escalation in international crises," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 38(1), pages 63-86, January.
    2. Jordan Adamson & Erik O Kimbrough, 2023. "The supply side determinants of territory," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 60(2), pages 209-225, March.
    3. Depetris-Chauvin, Emilio & Özak, Ömer, 2023. "(De facto) Historical Ethnic Borders and Contemporary Conflict in Africa," MPRA Paper 116868, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. David A. Bateman & Dawn Langan Teele, 2020. "A developmental approach to historical causal inference," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 185(3), pages 253-279, December.
    5. Andrew Shaver & David B. Carter & Tsering Wangyal Shawa, 2019. "Terrain ruggedness and land cover: Improved data for most research designs," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 36(2), pages 191-218, March.
    6. Razvan Stefanescu & Ramona Dumitriu, 2019. "The Economic Dimension of A Decision on a Territorial Exchange: Southern Bessarabia for Northern Dobruja," Risk in Contemporary Economy, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, pages 226-236.
    7. Guy Schvitz & Luc Girardin & Seraina Rüegger & Nils B. Weidmann & Lars-Erik Cederman & Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, 2022. "Mapping the International System, 1886-2019: The CShapes 2.0 Dataset," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 66(1), pages 144-161, January.
    8. David B Carter, 2017. "History as a double-edged sword," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 16(4), pages 400-421, November.

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