The Onset of Maritime Disputes: Alliance, Dissatisfaction, and Legal Warfare

Hayoun Ryou-Ellison

Abstract

My dissertation explores conditions under which states engage in maritime territorial disputes. Specifically, the dissertation consists of three essays examining three related questions on the onset of maritime territorial disputes between nation-states. The first study examines the influence of alliance on low-level violations at sea, addressing why these low-level provocations are actually more common between allies. The second study examines the influence of naval power on these low-level provocations, addressing whether naval power parity makes them more likely. The final study examines why states engage in low-level provocations. In all three essays, I argue that states’ concerns about customary international law work as an underlying driver of their behavior.