ABSTRACT
Territory, writes William Connolly, derives from the same etymological origin as 'terrible' and 'terror'. This chapter presents the way for future analysis of territoriality in various types of conflicts through a consideration of some central issues in the literature on territorial conflict in the field of international relations and international law. It starts with noting the renewed scholarly interest in territorial questions. The chapter presents some empirical patterns of the relationship between territoriality and conflict. It considers some theoretical attempts to explain territorial conflict. The chapter examines the debate over the moral justification of secession. It also considers what the implications of this literature are for intra-state disputes. The chapter discusses the importance of territory for ethnic groups. Space, territoriality and boundaries have become an increasingly popular subject. The mainstream proposal for solving ethnic conflicts is that self-determination should and can be promoted without changing borders or creating new ones.
