The Issue Correlates of War Territorial Claims Data, 1816–2001¹

Abstract

This article describes the first complete release of the Issue Correlates of War (ICOW) Territorial Claims dataset, which covers all interstate territorial claims between 1816 and 2001. Territory can have substantial tangible and intangible value for states, and competing claims for control of territory represent one of the leading sources of interstate conflict. The dataset identifies 843 territorial claims and includes measures of the salience of the claimed territory, as well as details of the militarization and ending of each claim. Beyond a discussion of the structure and contents of the dataset and the coding procedures that were used to generate it, this article also presents descriptive analyses of the dataset. These analyses highlight important patterns across time and space, including changes in the prevalence, frequency of initiation, salience, militarization, and resolution of territorial claims. Notable patterns include recent declines in the frequency with which claims tend to become militarized and a lower prevalence of tangible salience measures such as natural resources. The regional distribution of claims has also shifted markedly over time, from a historical concentration in Europe towards Asia, where by 2001 claims were far more prevalent than in any other region. The article concludes with suggestions for future research.

Defending the Faith? Assessing the Impact of State Religious Exclusivity on Territorial MID Initiation

“…We test these hypotheses using the recently-expanded Issue Correlates of War (ICOW) dataset, which encompasses global dyadic territorial claims from 1816 to 2001 (Frederick, Hensel, and Macaulay 2017), with dispute militarization data from the Militarized Interstate Dispute (MID) dataset (Palmer et al 2015). Religion variables are derived from the Religion and State Project, round 3 (RAS3) (Fox 2015), which codes state-religion policies and practices for all states with a population of at least 250,000, from 1990 to 2014.…”

Democratic Breakdown and the Hidden Perils of the Democratic Peace

“…One additional confounder is territorial dispute, since states with ongoing territorial disputes may be both more likely to suspend democracy and more likely to initiate conflict. To control for this possibility, Frederick et al (2017) binary territorial claims indicator is included. This variable measures whether two or more states claim sovereignty over the same specific territory.…”

The International Border Agreements Dataset

“…To address such questions, we compare our data to the Issue Correlates of War (ICOW) Project's data on territorial claims (version 1.01), which tracks all territorial claims in the world during the period 1816-2001 (Frederick et al, 2016), and the Correlates of War (COW) Project's data on territorial changes (Tir et al, 1998). A territorial claim exists if the official representatives of a state ''make explicit statements claiming sovereignty over a specific piece of territory that is claimed or administered by another state'' (Hensel et al, 2008: 128).…”