Territorial dispute refers to a disagreement among states about the delineation of their national borders or the ownership and control of specific territorial areas. The disputes are often accompanied by claims of historic ownership, which engender in individuals and societies a sense that the contested territory must be fully recovered to restore justice and undo the injustice of losing it. A claim of historic ownership shrinks the set of acceptable dispute outcomes and increases the likelihood of militarized conflict.
A nascent literature focuses on the nature of the claim of historic ownership and the dynamic processes that generate it. But scholars have not yet established clear boundaries on the scope of territorial disputes and on what makes these conflicts unique from other types of international confrontations. Distinguishing territorial conflicts from other kinds of disputes may help scholars better understand why they are particularly prone to violence and to identify the conditions under which peaceful conflict resolution is most likely.
Several scholars have argued that poor mapping is a major cause of territorial disputes and that the number of such disputes should decline as better maps are produced and exploration of the globe continues. But research on actual territorial disputes suggests that this is not the case. Territorial disputes are still common and tend to escalate into conflict. Some, such as those between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Venezuela and Guyana, and China and several of its neighbors, have even metastasized into full-blown war.
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