Claiming territory in an entangled world: action-guidance as a justification for a functionalist approach to states' territorial rights

This dissertation investigates the justification of states’ territorial rights in a world characterized by persistent territorial disputes and deeply entangled claims. Although territorial rights remain central to contemporary political practice, existing theories often struggle to provide coherent and practically applicable guidance when multiple states advance competing and interdependent claims over the same territory. The central question of the dissertation is therefore how territorial disputes can be resolved under conditions of territorial entanglement and theoretical disagreement. The analysis adopts a state-based and territory-based perspective, deliberately excluding non-statist and non-territorial approaches—most notably cosmopolitan theories. Against this background, the dissertation examines the main theories of states’ territorial rights, including John Simmons’ Lockean theory, Cara Nine’s collectivist Lockeanism, Margaret Moore’s voluntarist account, David Miller’s nationalist theory, and Anna Stilz’s functionalist approach. The core normative contribution of the dissertation lies in defending action-guidance as a crucial criterion for evaluating theories of territorial rights in ideal circumstances. I distinguish between utopian theories lacking practical applicability, overly context-dependent approaches, and ideal yet action-guiding theories capable of informing real-world decision-making. The competing theories are then assessed according to their capacity to guide action in cases of territorial entanglement. The analysis shows that functionalism performs best according to these criteria. At the same time, the dissertation identifies limitations in Stilz’s original formulation and proposes a revised functionalist account aimed at increasing determinacy and practical applicability. The dissertation concludes that a refined functionalist approach offers the most promising framework for adjudicating states’ territorial rights in an entangled world.