The Law Behind Dispute Onset
How Legal Uncertainty Drives Maritime Boundary Disputes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6283337 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Umut Yüksel (0000-0001-8561-3559, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue | 7-8 |
| Pages | 1172-1204 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Conflict Resolution (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0027 • E-ISSN: 1552-8766 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00220027241305076 |
| PMID | 40688110 |
| OpenAlex | W4405038461 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 39 |
The making of international law through multilateral conventions and adjudication often leads to periods of legal uncertainty, times in which there are alternative rules and divergent views on how they ought to be applied to particular cases. I argue that legal uncertainty gives states opportunities and incentives to formulate excessive unilateral claims, thus making disputes more likely to arise. I illustrate my argument with a comprehensive analysis of maritime boundary disputes in the aftermath of the Second World War. In this period, the law regulating maritime boundary-making has been marked by varying degrees of uncertainty due to different rules and interpretations proffered by various multilateral and judicial lawmaking attempts. I find strong evidence that high legal uncertainty is associated with an increased probability of dispute onset. The analysis calls for an important rethinking of the impact of legalization on international affairs, both in maritime boundary-making and in other issues areas
Adjudication · Argument (complex analysis · Boundary (topology · Dispute resolution · Economics · International law · Law and economics · Lawmaking · Legalization · Legislature · Political science · International Law and Human Rights · International Maritime Law Issues · Law · World Trade Organization Law
The Democratic Peace and Territorial Conflict in the Twentieth Century
From territorial claims to identity claims
Fighting over Oil
Ruling the Sea
The United States-Peruvian "Fisheries" Dispute
Law of the Sea
Islands and the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf
The Second Geneva Conference on the Law of the Sea
Judicialization of the Sea
The Dispute between Greece and Turkey Concerning the Continental Shelf in the Aegean
The “Satisfied” and “Dissatisfied” States Negotiate International Law
The International Court of Justice and the World's Three Legal Systems
Fixed effects in rare events data
Back to the Future
Mapping Interstate Territorial Conflict
Bones of Contention
Distributive Outcomes in Contested Maritime Areas
Rules over Real Estate
The Law Behind Dispute Onset
How Does Customary International Law Change? The Case of State Immunity
Introduction
Hard and Soft Law in International Governance
The Politics of Territorial Claims
Systemic Instability and the Emergence of Border Disputes
Bringing Law to the Table
Clashes at Sea
The Law of the Sea, International Courts, and Judicialization
Justice Lost! The Failure of International Human Rights Law To Matter Where Needed Most
The Historical Origins of Territorial Disputes
Does International Law Promote the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes? Evidence from the Study of Territorial Conflicts since 1945
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |