escalate to militarized conflict. 23 In some cases, like with China and Taiwan,
territorial claims have been made without explicitly challenging the norm, since
Taiwan is considered a break-away province by China and is not universally
recognised as a sovereign state. The diffusion of the conflict in Ukraine to other
disputed areas can lead to what scholars have identified as ‘norm regression’
which is a situation when ‘[T]he norm loses salience in the international arena
through a process of emulation by leaders of other states who note that the normative stigma for breaking the norm is now significantly reduced’. 24
Nevertheless, the global response demonstrates the defence of the norm by the
majority of the members of the international system. Global support for the
territorial integrity norm tends to strengthen it, since the greatest effect of the
norm comes from pressure by other, particularly strong, states that are able to
intervene diplomatically or militarily and, thus, deter a revisionist state from challenging the territorial status-quo. 25 Most states in the international system
have a self-interest in adhering with the norm either because they have no
territorial ambitions; or their societies have internalized it so deeply that
violating it is domestically unsustainable; or they view the stability of the
international system as being in their interest; and of course out of fear of
punishment. Furthermore, the economic and strategic gains from conquest have diminished due to the globalized economy and technological advancements. 26 Nevertheless, the war in Ukraine had triggered a global increase in military spending which reached its all-time high in 2023, 27 an indication that states have
become more anxious about their territorial integrity. However, imperial
conquest for the aggrandizement of territory and the subjugation of other people
23 Carter and Goemans, p. 283. 24 Ryder McKeown, ‘Norm Regress: US Revisionism and the Slow Death of the Torture Norm’ International Relations , 23 .1 (2009), 5 – 25 (p. 11). 25 Hensel, Allison and Khanani, pp. 139-140. 26 Zacher, p. 244. 27 See, Al Jazeera, World military spending reaches all-time high of $2.24 trillion, <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/24/world-military-spending-reaches-all-time-high-of-2-24-trillion > [aceessed 14 May 2023].
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