Borders and International Law: Setting the Stage

Abstract

The chapter aims to provide an overview of the broader context lying at the background of the analyses conducted in this collected volume. It proceeds in three steps. First, it offers a historiography of the notion of the border in international law, from the Roman ages to modernity. It appears that historically the legal concept of the border has undergone continuous transformations determined by the fluctuating purposes attached to it and by the modifications experienced by various socio-political entities. Second, it pinpoints two of the main trends of current international law, namely the increase of boundary disputes and the shift from pure territorial to ``functional'' borders, providing evidence of both. This follows the fact that also today the border is not an exact place: it is rather a series of spatial limits incessantly changing through which States assert their power, and one may happen to be within or beyond them regardless of where that person is physically located. This makes it necessary for international lawyers to systematically reflect upon the relationship between States' power, borders and phenomena of closure and openness. The third section accordingly provides a synopsis of the book.