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27 Willamette J. Int'l L. & Disp. Resol. 103 (2020)
China's Territorial Disputes: The Ongoing Quest for a Viable Explanatory Framework

handle is hein.journals/wildisres27 and id is 111 raw text is: CHINA'S TERRITORIAL DISPUTES: THE ONGOING QUEST FOR A VIABLE EXPLANATORY FRAMEWORK RODA MUSHKAT* Abstract: Chinese post-revolutionary history, including the four decade-long refrm era, has entailed an array oftwists and turns withfar-reaching implicationsfor the Asia-Pacific region and world order. Numerous and intense border conflicts have been an integral part of this intricate dynamic. They have attracted afair amount of albeit arguably insufficient, attention on the part of international legal scholars and social scientists. Theformer have exhibited notable breadth and the latter commendable depth in addressing the subject. The analytical shortcomings manifesting themselves, however, have not been rectified. Moreover, the quality ofoutput on the international law side of the divide has deteriorated after2010 andsocialscientistshavefailed to maintain impetus beyond that point in the cycle. Consequently, the marked discontinuities, a conceptually intriguing pattern, between thepre-201Ophase and the past decade have not been adequately delineated and theoretically exploited. The experience suggests that the challenges which manifold boundary conflicts pose, in this area and elsewhere, call for closer interdisciplinary collaboration and greater paradigmatic versatility. * Professor of International Law, Hopkins-Nanjing Center, Paul H Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University and Honorary Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong. I wish to thank Miron Mushkat for helping me navigate through social science territory, but I am solely responsible for the views expressed herein. 103