Back to the Future: Attempts to Buy, Swap, and Annex Territories in Contemporary Sovereignty Practices

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines recent Great Powers’ revisionist attempts at challenging the post–World War II norm of territorial integrity. These attempts may invigorate sovereignty claims in the old-time fashion of buying, swapping, or annexing territories. We show that recent dynamics in international politics speak a language that challenges the status quo consensus in territorial matters. While the article focuses mainly on the evidence during the period of Trump presidency, it concludes that this is not only about “Trump just being Trump.” The article shows that despite changes in domestic power in the United States, no changes in, or challenges to, Trump's decisions and proposals regarding territorial revisionisms have taken place. With several brief illustrative examples on board, the article tries to assess how the contemporary international order based on fixed territorial entities and inviolability of borders is contrasted by representations manifested in contemporary sovereignty practices.