Sovereignty of Maritime Microstates: Maintaining an International Presence in a Changing Context

ABSTRACT

Typically, coastal or island states, maritime microstates are sover- 5 eign countries with a land territory covering less than 1,000 km2 and a direct access to the sea. While accounting for less than 0.01% of the Earth’s total land area, the combined exclusive economical zones (EEZ) of maritime microstates represent a tenth of the United Nations’ EEZ and more than any single 10 other country. With economical and geopolitical tensions on the one hand and climate change on the other hand, seas have become under the focus of more and more countries and regional powers. However, with their limited population, microstates cannot ensure a level ofmilitary presence on the seas comparable 15 to regular, larger states. Therefore, the globalized tensions over the seas represent as many potential threats for microstates sovereignty. This paper will explore the challenges related to maritime microstates sovereignty and will analyze how maritime microstates canmaintain an international presence in a changing 20 international context from three imbricated perspectives: the diplomacy perspective, the limited workforce perspective, and the intelligence perspective.

Resumen

Típicamente los estados costeros o insulares, los microestados marítimos son países soberanos con un territorio terrestre que cubre menos de 1,000 km2 y con un acceso directo al mar. Si bien representan menos del 0.01% de la superficie terrestre total de la Tierra, las zonas económicas exclusivas (ZEE) combinadas de los microestados marítimos representan una décima parte de la ZEE de las Naciones Unidas, y más que cualquier otro país en solitario. Con tensiones económicas y geopolíticas, por un lado, y cambios climáticos, por otro lado, los mares se han convertido en el foco de más y más países y potencias regionales.

Sin embargo, con una población limitada, los microestados no pueden asegurar un nivel de presencia militar marítima comparable a los estados usuales más grandes. Por lo tanto, las tensiones globalizadas sobre los mares representan amenazas potenciales para la soberanía de los microestados.

Este artículo explorará los desafíos relacionados con la soberanía de los microestados marítimos y analizará cómo éstos pueden mantener una presencia internacional en un contexto internacional de cambio desde tres perspectivas imbricadas: la perspectiva diplomática, la perspectiva de la fuerza de trabajo limitada y la perspectiva de inteligencia.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate change
• counterintelligence
• diplomacy
• intelligence
• maritime
• microstate
• sustainability

Palabras clave:

• cambio climático
• contrainteligencia
• diplomacia
• inteligencia
• marítimo
• microestado
• sostenibilidad

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matthieu J. Guitton

Matthieu J. Guitton is Full Professor and Secretary of the Faculty of Medicine at Université Laval (Quebec City, QC, Canada). He is Senior Researcher/Group Leader at the CERVO Brain Research Center (Quebec City, QC, Canada) and a member of the School of Advanced International Studies at Université Laval. A graduate from the University of Rouen and Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris VI, he obtained his PhD from the University of Montpellier (France) and was a Koshland Scholar/Postdoctoral Fellow of Excellence at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel). He is a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Computers in Human Behavior and serves on several other editorial boards, such as Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. He is the Area Chair of the Sea Literature, History, and Culture Area of the Popular Culture Association (PCA).