Territoriaalisuus

Authors

• Kalevi Holsti

Abstract

Many contemporary analysts argue that technology is significantly modifying the characteristics and significance of territory. Territory, they claim, is becoming ”unbundled,” borders are becoming porous, sates are losing their capacity to control transnational process and the movement of goods, capital, people, crime, and diseases. We are moving hastily towards a ”borderless world.” If this is the case, then we have a major paradox: as territoriality supposedly loses its significance, international norms protecting its sanctity are becoming stronger. Many of the territorial practices of previous eras, such as partition, exchange, sale, and rearrangement through conquest or marriage, are no longer with us. Instead, the territorial norms of the international system have effectively ”frozen” the map of the world. Since 1945 we have seen only a few major territorial changes. This contrasts to earlier practices when territorial modifications occurred almost annually. Whatever changes have resulted from technological innovation, the political, emotional, and legal bases of territoriality today are stronger than ever. Territoriality as a foundation of statehood is not therefore losing its significance.