States employ a panoply of instruments to pursue their geopolitical interests. Using the concept of ‘geopolitical lawfare’, recently developed by Castan Pinos & Hau (2023), this paper will examine the use of a fundamental – yet underscrutinised – tool: the law. The term lawfare is generally associated with the use of legal instruments in military conflicts as a substitute of war (cf. Kennedy, 2006; Dunlap, 2008, 2009; Goldenziel, 2020). The paper will argue that lawfare is closely interlinked with geography and geopolitics. This is explained, inter alia, by the fact that legal strategies are often used by states (great powers and otherwise) in the international arena to uphold – or challenge – notions such as territorial integrity, territorial/maritime boundaries and sovereignty. With the aim of shedding light on the rationale, effectiveness and limitations of the phenomenon, the paper will examine various contemporary illustrative examples of geopolitical lawfare actions’ and strategies pursued by states. In turn, the examination of these cases will serve to develop a typology of geopolitical lawfare. The paper’s tentative conclusion is that geopolitical lawfare can shape geographic entities and hence the geopolitical status quo.

Jaume Castan Pinos
University of Southern Denmark

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ID Abstract: 732