A world without borders is a beautiful, but so far unrealizable dream. The cordons between the powers, apparently, will exist for a long time. Delimitation of borders is the main procedure necessary for their arrangement.
About borders
The famous Ukrainian writer Nechuya-Levitsky has a wonderful story “The Kaidashev Family”. The events described in it, although sometimes cause laughter, are deeply tragic. The heroes, the peasant family of Kaidash, are famous for eternal squabbles with each other. The sworn enmity that began with the squabble between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law then covers the whole family. And although the old Kaidash separates the eldest son, settling in the neighborhood, this does not reassure the warring. Constant swearing and fights, countless dirty tricks and even self-mutilation continue, either because of a chicken accidentally running into a neighboring yard, or because of eggs laid by it. And the main reason for the contention is the old pear, which grew at the fence between the related plots. Because of its harvest, the most fierce battles took place, subsiding only when the tree withered.
About delimitation of boundaries
If even close relatives have such swarms, what can we say about states whose conflicts between them can be truly bloody? Proper separation is one of the conditions in order to save them from cross-border confrontation. Border delimitation is the establishment of actual lines dividing neighboring states. The term comes from the Latin delimitatio, which is translated as “establishing the border”. Neighboring countries through negotiations determine where the section between them will take place, its general position and directions.
Delimitation process
Border delimitation is either an integral part of agreements between neighboring powers, or a special agreement establishing (modifying) a state border. To carry out delimitation, a large-scale map is used, which shows in detail all the details of the terrain, as well as settlements. A line agreed by both parties is drawn along it, and detailed descriptions are given. Then, the card with the border is signed by representatives of the contracting parties, sealed with stamps, after which it is an integral part of the agreement.
About demarcation of borders
The delimitation of the state border is a fuss with documents, not accompanied by immediate actions to equip the dividing line. But in the agreements on delimitation there are certainly also the obligations of the parties to transfer within a reasonable time the “paper” border into reality, that is, on its demarcation.
Demarcation is a special marking on the territory of the dividing line between the powers and its designation with the help of border signs. The basis for demarcation is a document on the delimitation of borders. The work is carried out under the supervision of a mixed commission of representatives of neighboring countries. In the process of demarcation, a border area is surveyed, a detailed map is compiled, border posts (or other dividing signs) are set up. Any action to demarcate the border is fixed (described) by compiling documents, to which are attached diagrams and photographs of the fencing. Border signs are not subject to uncoordinated movement.
Delimitation of maritime boundaries
If the state has access to the sea, the question arises of its maritime borders. It is more difficult to designate them than land ones, and by no means because of the insidious nature of the sea. When the territorial waters of states come into contact, the decision on their delimitation should be taken on the basis of mutual agreement, which is not always possible to achieve. Adopted in 1982 by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, it outlined a new practice for delimiting the body of water, which is notable for its ambiguity in maritime cordons. And although the purpose of the convention is to work out a fair solution, the lack of common principles often makes it difficult to reach a compromise and has already generated a number of interstate disputes. The delimitation of sea spaces is achieved the more difficult, the more the economic or political component, for example, the presence of proven hydrocarbon reserves on the shelf, affects the solution of the issue.
About the law of the sea
The fundamental principle of the law of the sea is freedom of the high seas. This provision on the universal accessibility of the sea space was adopted centuries ago and includes freedom of navigation and fishing, flights, etc. If all this were done for peaceful purposes. The sea is open to all, including for states that do not have access to it. And at the same time, the UN Convention provides for the regulation of such parties as territorial waters and the adjacent space, the continental shelf, and the size of the exclusive economic zone. The issue of delimitation at sea is actually the definition of that part of the sea space and the continental shelf to which coastal countries extend their sovereignty. But since any state has an inherent desire to grab a larger piece, numerous disputes about maritime borders are regularly examined by the UN international court . When the issue of the division of the coastal sea space is resolved, the established boundaries are plotted on the maps.
About border disputes
Delimitation in international law is also an opportunity once and for all to resolve border disputes that have ever arisen between states. These disputes have a different nature, but in all cases their basis is territorial claims to the neighboring state.
The competing countries are trying to justify their position in the dispute using various arguments. Often these are historical and cultural circumstances: long-standing belonging to another state or ethnic affinity with the people living there. Such considerations from time to time push Germany to speak of its right to Silesia or East Prussia. And Romania, for the same reason, periodically recalls Northern Bukovina or Bessarabia. But often interstate disputes give rise to fuzzy delimitation and demarcation of the border: for example, between Russia and China, Paraguay and Argentina.
About the republics of the former USSR
Cross-border conflicts and the states of the former Soviet Union did not escape. With the collapse of the USSR, the outlines of the newly formed countries coincided with the old administrative borders, and in some cases this caused hidden ethnic conflicts to break out with particular force. Part of the nations was geographically divided: the Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, the inhabitants of South Ossetia. The mechanical separation along the borders of the former USSR led to the formation of exclaves - sections of the territory surrounded by another state. Is there any need to talk about inconveniences for the population of isolated areas, for example, the Kaliningrad region?
But the population of Central Asian states felt the hardest results of the division on themselves. It's about the Ferghana Valley. In the Soviet years, this area, almost always before being a single whole, suddenly turned out to be divided between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In addition to the already difficult outline of the borders in the valley and its environs, a number of exclaves formed. Uzbek settlements appeared on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, and part of the Tajik settlements are squeezed by the lands of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. This has already led to a series of sharp clashes between states related to cattle grazing, water consumption, etc.
Delimitation of borders is the way to peace
Human nature is always the same - whether we are talking about squabble, unicultural Kaidash or responsible government leaders. Each defends the interests of his own side, each strives for justice (of course, in his own understanding). And therefore, the clarification of relations between states is inevitable. Any points of dispute: the fate of strategic territories like Gibraltar, the ownership of oil discovered on the sea border shelves, or the agreement concluded after the war, which decades later seems to be unjust to descendants. Even ownership of eternal ice disputes. It seems that a little time will pass, and mutual claims on the moon and the sun will be discussed in international courts .
It remains only to pray to God that all conflicts be resolved peacefully and bloodlessly, exclusively in the process of negotiations. Delimitations and demarcations, of course, do not guarantee humanity protection from wars, and yet this is an important step on the road to peace. Perhaps someday the bright dream of mankind will come true, and all the dividing cordons between states will disappear. But in the current realities, the arrangement of borders is a necessary procedure in ensuring good neighborliness.