Facing Neighbors: Territorial Conflict Irresolution as Relational Management

• In Event: Political Mobilization through Violence and Non-violence

Abstract

Simmering low-intensity territorial conflicts have been a major challenge of Asian security since the 1980s. Despite their prevalence, conflict resolution is largely the exception rather than the rule in the region. Mainstream international relations theory tends to treat the absence of formal legal resolution as a case of challenged bilateral relations. In an environment of enduring and asymmetrical rivalries, misinformation related to territorial sovereignty could easily spark diplomatic or even armed disputes. Yet, regional states have normalized relations since the end of the Cold War and resort to the use of force is relatively limited. This paper challenges the notion that territorial conflicts require a legal resolution settling the fundamental incompatibilities over territory between state actors. The prevailing stalemate in many Asian territorial conflicts should not be necessarily considered as a failure of conflict resolution. Instead, this paper argues that irresolution should be understood as reflective of stable management practices in bilateral relationships involving low-intensity territorial conflicts. To illustrate this process, it examines Cambodia’s border conflicts with its larger neighbors of Vietnam and Thailand from 1993-2023 based on data collected during 13 months of fieldwork. Conflict irresolution is evidenced as an active practice involving the institutionalization of routine face-to-face interactions between diverse actors across different ministries and levels of government in each state. This reduces misinformation and establishes more predicable bilateral relations. Mainland Southeast Asia thereby offers an interesting case to move beyond the Western-centric approach to conflict resolution and incorporate non-Western experiences in international relations theory.

Author

• Kathrin Reed, Ursinus College