Delimitation and demarcation: Analysing the legacy of Stephen B. Jones's boundary-making

Geopolitics

Volumn 13, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 676-700

  Donaldson, John W ^a   Williams, Alison J ^b  

^a DURHAM UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^b NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

POLITICAL BOUNDARY; POLITICAL DISCOURSE; POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY; THEORETICAL STUDY;

EID: 57349112367     PISSN: 14650045     EISSN: 15573028     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/14650040802275503     Document Type: Article

References (138)

1. Stephen B. Jones, Boundary-Making: A Handbook for Statesmen, Treaty Editors and Boundary Commissioners (Washington DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 1945).
2. For more information on this see Martin Pratt, 'A Terminal Crisis? Examining the Breakdown of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Dispute Resolution Process', Conflict Management and Peace Science 23/4 (2006).
3. Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), 'Agreement of 12 December 2000 between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Government of the State of Eritrea', Art. 4, para. 2.
4. EEBC, 'Decision Regarding Delimitation of the Border between the State of Eritrea and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia', 13 April 2002.
5. EEBC, 'Decision' (note 4) Art. 4, para. 13.
6. EEBC, 'Certain Demarcation Directions', 8 July 2002
7. amended by 'Decision Pursuant to Article 15B of the Commission's Demarcation Directions', 7 July 2003.
8. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, 'Eritrea/Ethiopia Boundary Arbitration Request for Interpretation, Correction and Consultation', 13 May 2002
9. See also the comments on the 24 Jan. 2003 submission by Ethiopia in: EEBC, 'Statement of 27 November 2006', para. 7.
10. EEBC, 'Statement' (note 7) para. 19.
11. Ibid., Annex and attached maps.
12. Ian Brownlie, African Boundaries: A Legal and Diplomatic Encyclopaedia (London: C. Hurst & Company 1979) p. 4.
13. The funding for this trip was provided by a grant from the Geography Department at Durham University, which the authors are most grateful for.
14. Chauncey D. Harris, 'In Memoriam: Stephen Barr Jones, 1903-1984', Annals of the Association of American Geographers 75/2 (1985) p. 272.
15. Illustrated by his pre-war publication record that included Stephen B. Jones, 'The Forty-Ninth Parallel in the Great Plains: The Historical Geography of a Boundary', Journal of Geography 31 (1932) pp. 357-368
16. Stephen B. Jones, 'The Cordilleran Section of the Canada-United States Borderland', Geographical Journal 89/5 (1937) pp. 439-450
17. Stephen B. Jones, 'Geography and Politics in the Hawaiian Islands', Geographical Review 28/2 (1938) pp. 193-213
18. Stephen B. Jones and Klaus Mehnert, 'Hawaii and the Pacific: A Survey of Political Geography', Geographical Review 30/3 (1940) pp. 358-375.
19. Harris, 'In Memoriam' (note 12) p. 272.
20. See also, Leo Dillon, 'The State Department's Office of the Geographer: History and Current Activities', The Portolan: The Journal of the Washington Map Society 64 (2005-6) pp. 35-45.
21. For more information on the role of geographers in the allied war effort see, Trevor J. Barnes, 'Geographical Intelligence: American Geographers and Research and Analysis in the Office of Strategic Services, 1941-1945', Journal of Historical Geography 32/1 (2006) pp. 149-168
22. Chauncy D. Harris, 'Geographers in the US Government in Washington, DC, during World War II', Professional Geographer 49/2 (1997) pp. 245-256
23. W. G. V. Balchin, 'United Kingdom Geographers in the Second World War: A Report', The Geographical Journal 153/2 (1987) pp. 159-180.
24. See Neil Smith, American Empire: Roosevelt's Geographer and the Prelude to Globalisation (Berkley: University of California Press 2003)
25. Geoffrey J. Martin, The Life and Thought of Isaiah Bowman (Hamden: Shoe String Press 1980).
26. Isaiah Bowman, Desert Trails of Atacama (New York: American Geographical Society 1924).
27. Isaiah Bowman, The Andes of Southern Peru (New York: Henry Holt 1916).
28. For more information on this aspect of Bowman's work see Smith, American Empire (note 15) pp. 53-82.
29. Martin (note 15) p. 11.
30. Martin (note 15) p. 11.
31. Isaiah Bowman, The New World: Problems in Political Geography (London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd 1928).
32. Smith, American Empire (note 15) p. 186.
33. Smith, American Empire (note 15) p. 183
34. quoting Ellen Churchill Semple, 'Two Works on Political Geography', Geographical Review 14 (1924) p. 666.
35. Smith, American Empire (note 15) p. 185.
36. Smith, American Empire (note 15) p. 345.
37. For a full bibliography of Bowman's publications see Martin (note 15).
38. See especially: Michel Foucher, Fronts et Frontières (Paris: Fayard 1988) p. 10.
39. Lewis M. Alexander, 'Samuel Whittemore Boggs: An Appreciation', Annals of the Association of American Geographers 48/3 (1958) p. 237.
40. Alexander (note 25) pp. 237-238.
41. Samuel Whittemore Boggs, Boundary Functions and the Principles of Boundary-Making (US Department of State, Press Release, 2 Jan. 1932)
42. Samuel Whittemore Boggs, 'Delimitation of the Territorial Sea: The Method of Delimitation Proposed by the Delegation of the United States at the Hague Conference for the Codification of International Law', American Journal of International Law 24 (1930) pp. 541-555
43. Samuel Whittemore Boggs, 'Problems of Water-Boundary Definition, Median Lines and International Boundaries through Territorial Waters', The Geographical Review XXVII (1937) pp. 445-456
44. Samuel Whittemore Boggs, American Contributions to Geographical Knowledge of the Central Pacific', The Geographical Review XXVIII (1938) pp. 177-192
45. Samuel Whittemore Boggs, Bases for American Claims to Pacific Islands (1937) National Archives and Records Administration - College Park, Maryland. Record Group 38, Records of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Strategic Plans, War Plans Division, Miscellaneous Subject File, Box. 65.
46. See Smith, American Empire (note 15) pp. 53-82.
47. Samuel Whittemore Boggs, 'The Map of Latin America by Treaty', Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 79/3 (1938) pp. 399-410
48. Samuel Whittemore Boggs, Publications Relating to the Boundaries of Latin America (22 Jan. 1937) National Archives and Records Administration - College Park, Maryland. Record Group 59, General Records of the Department of State - Office of the Geographer, Document 710.1015
49. See also Alexander (note 25) p. 240.
50. Samuel Whittemore Boggs, Letter to Mr Duggan (22 Jan. 1937) National Archives and Records Administration - College Park, Maryland. Record Group 59, General Records of the Department of State - Office of the Geographer, Document 710.1015.
51. Samuel Whittemore Boggs, Publications Relating to the Boundaries of Latin America (22 Jan. 1937) National Archives and Records Administration - College Park, Maryland. Record Group 59, General Records of the Department of State - Office of the Geographer, Document 710.1015.
52. Alexander Marchant, Boundaries of the Latin American Republics: An Annotated List of Documents 1493-1943. Tentative Version (Washington, DC: State Department. Inter-American Series 24 1944)
53. see Alexander (note 25) p. 240. It should be noted that two books covering South and Central American boundaries were also written independently of Boggs at the same time that he was proposing his Latin American books.
54. See, Gordon Ireland, Boundaries, Possessions and Conflicts in South America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1938)
55. and Gordon Ireland, Boundaries, Possessions, and Conflicts in Central and North America and the Caribbean (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1941).
56. Samuel Whittemore Boggs, International Boundaries: A Study of Boundary Functions and Problems (New York: Columbia University Press 1940).
57. See Boggs, International Boundaries (note 33).
58. Ibid., p. ix.
59. Harris, 'In Memoriam' (note 12) p. 272.
60. See, for example, Jones, 'The Forty-Ninth Parallel' (note 13) pp. 357-368
61. Jones, 'The Cordilleran Section' (note 13) pp. 439-450
62. Jones, 'Geomorphology' (1938) pp. 55-61
63. Stephen B. Jones, 'The Weather Element in the Hawaiian Climate', Annals of the Association of American Geographers 29 (1939) 29-57.
64. Alexander (note 25) p. 240.
65. Jones, Boundary-Making (note 1) p. ix.
66. Harris, 'In Memoriam' (note 12) p. 272.
67. Harris, 'Geographers' (note 14) p. 246.
68. See also Barnes (note 14) pp. 152-153.
69. Washington Post, The Dictators Make Geography and Hard Work for Dr. Boggs (23 March 1940).
70. Samuel Whittemore Boggs, Letter to Albert I. Prince (1 Dec. 1942) National Archives and Records Administration - College Park, Maryland. Record Group 59, General Records of the Department of State - Office of the Geographer, Document 111.55/3.
71. Boggs's projects on Latin American boundaries had similarly been met with tepid support from the State Department which had thought it a good idea, but encouraged Boggs to find outside funding.
72. Jones, Boundary-Making (note 1).
73. See also Stephen B. Jones, Boundary-Making: A Handbook for Statesmen, Treaty Editors and Boundary Commissioners (London: William S. Hein & Co 2000).
74. Boggs, International Boundaries (note 33)
75. Richard Hartshorne, 'Suggestions on the Terminology of Political Boundaries', Annals of the Association of American Geographers 26/ 1 (March 1936) pp. 56-57.
76. Jones, Boundary-Making (note 1) p. 57.
77. Ibid., p. 162.
78. Ibid., p. 165.
79. Col. Sir Thomas H Holdich, Political Frontiers and Boundary-Making (London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd 1916) p. 208.
80. A. H. McMahon, 'The Southern Borderlands of Afghanistan', The Geographical Journal 9/4 (1897) pp. 393-415: P. 393.
81. Col. Sir A. H. McMahon, 'International Boundaries', Journal of the Royal Society of Arts 15 (1935) p. 4.
82. Ibid., p. 4.
83. Ibid., p. 5.
84. Others such as Holdich, Fawcett, and Boulnois used these terms, but all after McMahon's 1897 paper had been published.
85. Brownlie (note 10) p. 4.
86. J. G. Merrills, 'International Boundary Disputes in Theory and in Practice: Precedents Established', in Julie Dahlitz (ed.), Peaceful Resolution of Major international Disputes: Prepared under the Auspices of the International Law Association and the Consortium on International Dispute Resolution on the Occasion of the Centennial of the First International Peace Conference (New York and Geneva: United Nations 1999) pp. 100-101.
87. Although he uses the terms within the wider context of 'bordering' rather than the more focused context of boundary-making, Newman goes so far as to say that "to use the terminologies of demarcation and delimitation today is to be branded, at best, a traditionalist, or, at worst, a determinist." David Newman, 'Borders and Bordering', European Journal of Social Theory 9/2 (2006) p. 175.
88. J. R. V. Prescott, Political Frontiers and Boundaries (London: Allen & Unwin 1987) p. 69.
89. Ron Adler, 'Geographical Information in Delimitation, Demarcation and Management of International Land Boundaries', Boundary & Territory Briefing 3/4 International Boundaries Research Unit, University of Durham (2001) p. 1.
90. Prescott (note 59) p. 69.
91. Boggs, International Boundaries (note 33) p. 197.
92. Boggs, International Boundaries (note 33) p. 197, footnote 4.
93. Jones, Boundary-Making (note 1) p. 5.
94. Brownlie (note 10) p. 4.
95. Prescott (note 59) p. 69.
96. Prescott (note 59) p. 69.
97. Boggs, International Boundaries (note 33) p. 17.
98. Adler (note 60) p. 3. The text of French boundary treaties often use the term l'abornement.
99. For example, see France-Switzerland, 'Agreement on the Demarcation and Maintenance of the Frontier (Accord concernant l'abornement et l'entretien de la frontière)', 10 March 1965 and subsequent exchange of notes 30 Sept. 1980 and 31 March 1981, United Nations Treaty Series No. 22330 registered 30 Aug. 1983.
100. ICJ, 'Special Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Upper Volta and the Government of the Republic of Mali for the submission to a Chamber of the International Court of Justice of the Frontier Dispute between the Two States 20 October 1983', ICJ Reports (General List No. 69 1983) p. 4.
101. Jones, Boundary-Making (note 1) p. 5.
102. Ibid., p. 224.
103. Ibid., p. 57, footnote 1.
104. ICJ, 'Cameroon-Nigeria Land and Maritime Boundary Judgement 10 October 2002', ICJ Reports (General List No. 94 2002) p. 359, para. 84.
105. Stephen B. Jones, 'Field Geography and Postwar Political Problems', Geographical Review 33/3 (1943) p. 450.
106. Jones, Boundary-Making (note 1) p. 6.
107. Jones, 'The Cordilleran Section' (note 13) pp. 439-450.
108. Jones, Boundary-Making (note 1) p. 6.
109. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Kazakhstan website: .
110. Jones, 'Field Geography' (note 76) pp. 451-452.
111. Stephen B. Jones, 'Boundary Concepts in the Setting of Place and Time', Annals of the Association of American Geographers 49/3 (1959) pp. 251-252.
112. See Jones, 'Boundary Concepts' (note 82) p. 251.
113. Ibid., pp. 249-250.
114. Ibid., pp. 251-252.
115. Julian Minghi, 'Boundary Studies in Political Geography', Annals of the Association of American Geographers 53/3 (1963) p. 413.
116. Neil Smith, 'Shaking Loose the Colonies: Isaiah Bowman and the 'De-colonization' of the British Empire', in Smith and Godlewska (eds.), Geography and Empire (Oxford: Blackwell 1994) p. 298.
117. Minghi (note 86) p. 413.
118. Charter of the United Nations, 26 June 1945, Chapter 1 Purposes and Principles, Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 4
119. In international law, 'consent' can be established through a wide variety of means which are outside the scope of this work.
120. See Chapter II, Competence of the Court, Statute of the International Court of Justice, Malcolm Shaw, International Law: Third Edition (Cambridge, UK: Grotius Publications 1991) pp. 650-652.
121. See, for example the ICJ's comments on the relevance of effectivités vs. title: 'Burkina Faso/Mali Frontier Dispute Judgement 22 December 1986', ICJ Reports (General List No. 69 1986) p. 587, para. 63
122. 'Libyan Arab Jamahiriya/Chad Territorial Dispute Judgement 3 February 1994', ICJ Reports (General List No. 83 1994) pp. 75-76, para. 38
123. 'Cameroon-Nigeria' (note 75) pp. 346-355, paras. 62-70.
124. In this context 'demarcation' could be described as the actual erection of pillars or administrative acts which might define the position of a boundary.
125. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (note 7) Section I.
126. Ibid., Section I.
127. EEBC, 'Decision Regarding the "Request for Interpretation, Correction and Consultation" Submitted by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on 13 May 2002', 24 June 2002.
128. EEBC, 'Observations', 21 March 2003, para. 8.
129. Egypt-Israel Arbitral Tribunal, 'Award in Boundary Dispute Concerning the Taba Area', International Legal Materials 27/6 (Nov. 1988) p. 1482, para. 210.
130. EEBC, 'Statement' (note 7) para. 24.
131. Ibid., para. 25.
132. Brownlie (note 10) p. 4.
133. See also: ICJ, 'Case Concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand) Merits, Judgement of 15 June 1962', ICJ Reports (General List No. 45 1962).
134. The demarcation of the Belgian Congo-Northern Rhodesia boundary along the Congo- Zambezi watershed from 1927-1933 is a prime example. See E. R. L. Peake, 'Northern Rhodesia: Belgian Congo Boundary', The Geographical Journal 83/4 (1934) pp. 263-277.
135. In the conclusions reached at the International Symposium on Land and River Boundary Demarcation and Maintenance in Support of Borderland Development, held in Bangkok 7-11 November 2006, the participants representing 25 states stated: "Uncertainties over boundary alignment increases the risk of disputes between states and hinders borderland development. Making boundaries visible on the ground may help to eliminate such uncertainty and provide the foundation for development. However, demarcation should not be seen as an end in itself - it is only part of the on-going process of boundary-making."
136. Adler (note 60).
137. Jones, Boundary-Making (note 1) p. 5.
138. Ibid., p. 220. For a good example of what current boundary maintenance entails, see the work of the Canada-USA International Boundary Commission who publicise their work on their website: .