The Rise of Territorial Disputes and the Stability of Southeast Asia

The main purpose of this study is to examine how the rise of territorial revivalism affects the stability of Southeast Asia. There are many unresolved territorial disputes in the region, yet the current regional stability overshadows the importance and the possible conflicts over these territories in the future. In order to understand the trajectory of the existing disputes, this study questions what are the remaining territorial disputes in Southeast Asia, what explains their stability, and under what circumstances a territorial dispute becomes stable, unstable, dormant and peacefully resolved. In contrast to the dominating international and regional approaches to territorial dispute, this study argues that it is the interplay between territoriality (issue-level approach) and domestic visibility (domestic-level approach) that best explains the dynamics of territorial disputes in the region.