National Claims to Territory in the Modern State System: Geographical Considerations

In: Geopolitics, Band 7, Heft 2, S. 193-214

Abstract

Recent research has focused on the efforts of national leaders to legitimize & strengthen national identity through the construction of uncomplicated, linear national histories. Paralleling, & in some respects advancing, these efforts are initiatives aimed at staking national claims to particular territories. These claims are the product of "regimes of territorial legitimation" that reflect the norms of the modern state system. They are fundamentally influenced by two geographic circumstances: the political-territorial status of states at the time of entry into the modern state system & prevailing ideas about the cultural-historical character of state territory. A comparative framework focused on the intersection of these two circumstances provides insights into some basic features of national senses of territory as articulated by those in power within existing states. 2 Tables. Adapted from the source document.