Advertisement

Geopolitics of Small Islands

  • Beate M. W. Ratter
Chapter
First Online:

Abstract

This chapter is about islands as pawns in the game of international interests and territorial powers. It deals with the spatial location of islands and the associated geopolitics, from the colonial period to the international Law of the Sea discussed in the 1980s and 1990s up to current examples of islands as pawns, from the Falkland Islands to the current conflicts in the South China Sea and the Senkaku Islands.

Keywords

Geopolitics Guano Law of the sea UNCLOS III Territorialisation Strategic interests Disputed Islands 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Ackerman, Spencer. 2016. Nine more Guantánamo Bay prisoners released as population dwindles to 80. Published on Saturday 16 April 2016 21.37 BST in The Guardian. New York. Digital version available at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/16/guantanamo-bay-prisoners-released-yemen-saudi-arabia.
  2. Anand, Ram Prakash. 1983. Origin and development of the law of the sea: History of international law revisited. Publications on ocean development, Vol. 7, 249 pp. The Hague/Boston/London: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.Google Scholar
  3. Baldacchino, Godfrey. 2016. Diaoyu Dao, Diaoyutai or Senkaku? Creative solutions to a festering dispute in the East China Sea from an ‘Island Studies’ perspective. Asia Pacific Viewpoint 57 (1): 16–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Baumert, Kevin, and Brian Melchior. 2015. The practice of Archipelagic states: A study of studies. Ocean Development & International Law 46 (1): 60–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/00908320.2015.995970.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Boyce, D. George. 2005. The Falklands war, 264 pp. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Breuer, Gerhard. 1982. Geopolitische Fragen der 3. UN-Seerechtskonferenz. In Bremer Beiträge zur Geographie und Raumplanung. Heft 2, ed. Gerhard Bahrenberg, Hans-Karl Barth, Eva Leuze, and Wolfgang Taubmann, 9–19. Uni Bremen: Meere und Küstenräume, Hafen und Verkehr.Google Scholar
  7. Brook, Timothy. 2013. Mr. Selden’s map of China. Decoding the secrets of a vanished cartographer, 1st edn, 236 pp. London/Berlin: Profile Books.Google Scholar
  8. Buchholz, Hanns J. 1986. Ozeane als nationale Territorien. Geographische Rundschau 38 (12): 614–620.Google Scholar
  9. Charney, Jonathan I., and Lewis M. Alexander (ed.). 1994. International maritime boundaries, Vol III, Colombia-Jamaica pp. 2179–2204. page 50 Law of the Sea. Bulletin No. 26. In United Nations Law of the Sea Bulletin. Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. Office of Legal Affairs, 50. http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/international-law-and-justice/law-of-the-sea-bulletin/volume-1994/issue-26_ead3282c-en - .WJohFLGX9E4#page5. DOI:  10.18356/ead3282c-en.
  10. ———. 1997. International maritime boundaries, Vol III, Cuba – Jamaica pp. 2205–2218. page 64 Law of the Sea. Bulletin No. 34. In United Nations Law of the Sea Bulletin. Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. Office of Legal Affairs, 50. http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/international-law-and-justice/law-of-the-sea-bulletin/volume-1997/issue-34_cf68925e-en - .WJojeLGX9E4. DOI: 10.18356/cf68925e-en.
  11. Curiel, Raul. 2010. Overlapping claims for an extended continental shelf in the Northeastern part of South America facing the Atlantic Ocean, 204 pp. Research Paper: The United Nations-Nippon Foundation Fellowship Programme 2009–2010. New York: Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. Office of Legal Affairs – United Nations.Google Scholar
  12. de Zayas, Alfred. 2004. The status of Guantanamo Bay and the status of the Detainees. University of British Columbia Law Review 37 (2004): 277–341.Google Scholar
  13. Defoe, Daniel. 1719. The life and strange surprizing adventures of Robinson Crusoe, 373 pp. London: Taylor.Google Scholar
  14. Dorloff, Axel, and Lena Bodewein. 2016. Chinas Expansionskurs – Der Konflikt im Südchinesischen Meer. Deutschlandfunk, 28.5.2016. Digital version available at: http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/chinas-expansionskurs-der-konflikt-im-suedchinesischen-meer.724.de.html?dram:article_id=355428.
  15. Drekonja-Komat, Gerhard. 1983. Der kolumbianisch-nicaraguanische Streit um den San Andrés-Archipel. Verfassung und Recht in Übersee 16 (2): 163–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Drifte, Reinhard. 2014. The Japan-China confrontation over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands: between ‘shelving’ and ‘dispute escalation’. The Asia-Pacific Journal 12 30(3). Digital version available at: http://www.japanfocus.org/-Reinhard-Drifte/4154.
  17. Dzurek, Daniel J. 1996. The spratly Island dispute: Who’s on first?, 72 pp. Maritime Briefing 2(1). Durham: International Boundaries Research Unit, University of Durham. Digital pdf available at: https://www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/publications/view/?id=232.
  18. Eldridge, Robert D. 2013. The origins of US policy in the East China Sea Islands dispute: Okinawa’s reversion and the Senkaku Islands, 376 pp. Routledge Security in Asia Series. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  19. Federal Government of the United States. 1856. 48 US code chapter 8 – GUANO ISLANDS, 114–138 pp. New York: Legal Information Institute at Cornell University Law School. Digital version available at: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/48/chapter-8.
  20. Glassner, Martin Ira and Harm J. de Blij. 1980. Systematic political geography, 3th edn, 537 pp. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
  21. Hoyt, E. 2011. Marine protected areas for whales, dolphins and porpoises: A world handbook for cetacean habitat conservation and planning, 464 pp. London/New York: Earthscan/Routledge and Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
  22. Inquirer. 2016. China foreign minister downplays missile deployment reports. Published on 17 February 2016, 03:53 PM. Digial version available at: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/136678/china-foreign-minister-downplays-missile-deployment-reports.
  23. Ireland, Gordon. 1971. Boundaries, possessions, and conflicts in Central and North America and the Caribbean, 331 pp. New York: Octagon Books.Google Scholar
  24. Koo, Min Gyo. 2009. The Senkaku/Diaoyu dispute and Sino-Japanese political-economic relations: Cold politics and hot economics? The Pacific Review 22 (2): 205–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Lewis, B.C. 1946. The history of the Pedro and Morant Cay (Broadcast presented over LQI) Kingston 27.11.1946.Google Scholar
  26. Mañón Arredondo, M. 1981. Islas bajo el pabellón dominicano. In Investiganciones en las Islas Beata y Alto Velo, ed. Museo del Hombre Dominicano and Marina de Guerra, 239–245. Santo Domingo.Google Scholar
  27. Nichols, Roy F. 1933. Navassa: A forgotten acquisition. The American Historical Review 38 (3): 505–510. https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/38.3.505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Núṅez Jiménez, Antonio. 1982. El Archipiélago – Cuba: La Naturaleza y el Hombre, 320 pp. La Habana: Letras Cubanas.Google Scholar
  29. Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations; Division for Ocean Affairs and The Law of the Sea. 2011. Table of claims to maritime jurisdictio (as at 15 July 2011). Digital version available at: http://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/PDFFILES/table_summary_of_claims.pdf.
  30. PCA Permanent Court of Arbitration. 2017. Introduction to the PCA – History. https://pca-cpa.org/en/about/introduction/history/.
  31. Phillips, Tom. 2016. Beijing defiant ahead of court ruling on its claims in South China Sea. Published on 12 July 2016 in The Guardian. New York. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/12/china-defiant-ahead-of-court-ruling-on-its-claims-in-south-china-sea?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other. Last access 7 Jan 2017.
  32. Prescott, John Robert Victor. 1975. The political geography of the oceans, 247 pp. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
  33. Ratter, Beate M.W. 1990. Die Guano-Inseln der Karibik. Schatzinseln zwischen Abenteuerromantik und internationalem Seerecht. In Militärpolitik-Dokumentation, 73–75. Konfliktfeld Weltmeer. Die veränderte Bewertung des Meeres als Ressourcen-, Sicherheits- und Einflußraum, ed. Karsten Horx and Beate M.W. Ratter, 138–150. Haag + Herchen: Frankfurt am Main.Google Scholar
  34. ———. 1993. Maritime Jurisdiction in the Wider Caribbean. A handbook on national legislation, 229 pp. Hamburg: Wayasbah.Google Scholar
  35. ———. 2001. Redes Caribes. San Andrés y Providencia y las islas Cayman: entre la integración economica mundial y la autonomía cultural regional, 286 pp. Bogotá: Bogotá Universidad Nacional de Colombia.Google Scholar
  36. Ratter, Beate M.W., and Karsten Horx. 1990. Das Ende des freien Meeres. Die Entwicklungsgeschichte des internationalen Seerechts. In Militärpolitik-Dokumentation, 73–75. Konfliktfeld Weltmeer. Die veränderte Bewertung des Meeres als Ressourcen-, Sicherheits- und Einflußraum, ed. Horx Karsten and Beate M.W. Ratter, 1–44. Frankfurt am Main: Haag + Herchen.Google Scholar
  37. Royle, Stephen A. 2001. A geography of Islands. Small Island Insularity. Routledge studies in human geography, 237 pp. London/New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  38. Sandner, Gerhard. 2003. Centroamerérica y el Caribe Occidental – Coyunturas, crisis y conflictos 1503–1984, 418 pp. San Andrés Isla: Universidad Nacional de Colombia.Google Scholar
  39. Schalansky, Judith. 2009. Atlas der abgelegenen Inseln. Engl. translation (2010): Atlas of Remote Islands. Fifty Islands I have not visited and never will, 144 pp. Hamburg: Penguin/Mare Verlag.Google Scholar
  40. Seldon, John. 1672. Titles of honor, Preface, 808 pp. London: E. Tyler and R. Holt for Thomas Dring. Digital pdf available at: https://ia801403.us.archive.org/15/items/titlesofhonor00seld/titlesofhonor00seld.pdf.
  41. Smith Robert W. and Bradford L. Thomas. 1998. Island disputes and the law of the sea: An examination of sovereignty and delimitation disputes, 33 pp. Maritime Briefing 2(4). Durham: International Boundaries Research Unit, University of Durham. Digital pdf available at: https://www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/publications/view/?id=235.
  42. Stevenson, Robert Louis. 1883. Treasure Island, 292 pp. London: Cassell.Google Scholar
  43. Studier, Alphons. 1982. Die 3. UN-Seerechtskonferenz: Auf dem Weg zu einer gerechten Weltmeeresordnung?, 80 pp. München: Weltforum-Verlag.Google Scholar
  44. Tanaka, Yoshifumi. 2012. The international law of the sea, 435 pp. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
  45. Tejera, Apoljnar. 1981. ‚Alta Vela‘ o ‚Alto Velo ‘? In Investigaciones en las Islas Beata y Alto Velo, ed. Museo del Hombre Dominicano and Marina de Guerra, 225–233. Santo Domingo.Google Scholar
  46. The White House, Office of the Press Secretary. 2016. Remarks by President Obama at US-ASEAN Press Conference, 16.2.2016. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/16/remarks-president-obama-us-asean-press-conference. Last access 7 Jan 2017.
  47. Thomas, Frank R. 2002. Self-reliance in Kiribati: Contrasting views of agricultural and fisheries production. The Geographical Journal 168 (2): 163–177. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-4959.00045.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  48. Toste Ballart, Gilberto. 1983. Guantánamo: USA al desnudo, 133 pp. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales La Habana.Google Scholar
  49. United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. 1982. United Nations convention on the law of the sea. Digital version available at: http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf.
  50. United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. 2013. Declarations and statements. Digital version available at: http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_declarations.htm - Kiribati%20Upon%20accession.
  51. US Commission on Ocean Policy. 2004. An ocean blueprint for the 21st century. Final report. Washington, DC. Digital version available at: http://www.oceancommission.gov.
  52. US Department of Defense. 2015. Base structure report – Fiscal year 2015 Baseline. A summary of the real property inventory, 206 pp. http://www.acq.osd.mil/eie/Downloads/BSI/Base Structure Report FY15.pdf.
  53. Vitzthum, Wolfgang Graf, ed. 1981. Die Plünderung der Meeres – Ein gemeinsames Erbe wird zerstückelt, 328 pp. Fischer-Taschenbücher, Band 4248, Informationen zur Zeit. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer-Taschenbuch Verlag.Google Scholar
  54. Wells, Tom Henderson. 1964. The Swan Island Dispute. Journal of Interamerican Studies 6 (1): 57–68.Google Scholar
  55. Zuloaga Ramírez, Guillermo. 1955. The Isla de Aves story. The Geographical Review 45 (2): 172–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  • Beate M. W. Ratter
    • 1
    • 2
  1. 1.Institute of GeographyUniversity of HamburgHamburgGermany
  2. 2.Institute of Coastal ResearchHelmholtz Zentrum GeesthachtGeesthachtGermany

Personalised recommendations

Cite chapter