Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Hein Goemans. 2006. Bounded Communities: Territoriality, Territorial Attachment, and Conflict

Hein Goemans, “Bounded Communities: Territoriality, Territorial Attachment, and Conflict,” in Miles Kahler and Barbara Walter, eds., Territoriality and Conflict in an Era of Globalization (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 25-61.

Homeland is specified by territory rather than language, cultural, ethnic, or other ties. Such a definition allows coordination between the leaders and subjects of a homeland to facilitate a collective defense. The specification of a homeland relies on focal principles with wide applicability that are simple enough to be interpreted by all concerned. The focal principles chosen depend first on enforcement cost, a leader's self-interested motives, contingencies that may arise, and common knowledge such as historical information.

Homeland defined by focal principles should be indivisible. States should be willing to claim and fight for territory fitting its focal principles. Newly drawn boundaries should follow focal principles rather than military conquest.

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