Description
In the context of the Russo-Ukrainian War and the Israel-Palestine conflict, the principle of non-conquest (or territorial integrity) has come into question in new ways. Popular political narratives have reasserted this principle as a legacy of WWII and the victory of democracy over totalitarianism. But the historical origins of the territorial integrity principle has been subject to relatively little scholarly analysis. This article, going against the grain of popular narratives, asserts that the US preference for informal imperialism, going back at least to 1900, is one of the major factors in the emergence of territorial integrity. I track the emergence of the prohibition of conquest in three stages. First, the US renounced conquest as a policy, and declared to the world that it had done so, in order to promote friendly relations with others. Second, it inserted territorial integrity into the League of Nations Covenant, at the League’s foundation. Third, the 1932 Stimson Doctrine of non-recognition of conquered territory solidified the importance of territorial integrity. Alongside the second and third stages, I examine two alternative explanations based on European and Latin American activities. Finally, I offer some concluding insights into the relevance of the argument for today, at a time when the role of the USA as a global leader is increasingly in question.
