Internationalized Territories and States System, 1815-Present

• In Event: Rethinking Space in World Politics: States, Sovereignty, Territoriality

Abstract

How has the international management of disputed territories changed over time? Beginning with the Free City of Cracow in 1815 and concluding with the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo, I examine over 20 cases of internationalized territories. I argue that these territories represent an exceptional arrangement of sovereignty, characterized by multiple external state actors cooperatively claiming sovereignty at the international level without delegating sovereignty to another independent state. This paper explores how the causes and character of these arrangements have changed as the relationship between territory, the state, and the international system has evolved. I illustrate this transformation by dividing cases of internationalized territories into three historical periods. I argue that the international order in each of these periods was characterized by distinct challenges and constraints, causing the design and application of territorial compromise to adjust to address those challenges. I conclude by arguing that recent political science research on international management of territory has ignored this process of world-historical change, and that doing so has resulted in a flawed understanding of how contemporary crises such as territorial expansionism and stewardship of environmental assets can be addressed at the international level.

Author

• Heather Penatzer, Princeton University