The Landlocked Position and its Effect on State’s Power Case Study –Mali State

Al-Ameer Abbas Al-Hayali, Abdul; Ali Keytan, Wisam

	The Landlocked Position and its Effect on State’s Power Case Study –Mali State
Journal of Research Diyala humanity
Article 1, Volume 0, Issue 60, 2017, Pages 465-502
Authors
Abdul Al-Ameer Abbas Al-Hayali; Wisam Ali Keytan
Abstract
This paper covers three themes, the first theme deals with geographic significance of the landlocked countries and their sufferance from psychological, economic, political and legal issues because of their remote geographic locations from seas and oceans. The issues of these countries are exacerbated; as their number reached 43 country and mostly located in Africa and then Europe, Asia and South America. The landlocked country becomes in unenviable situation, unless it ensures the right of navaltransit in the territorial waters and obtaining the facilities from the ports of coastal countries and transportation. That is to say landlocked country should look for warranties or it becomes politically isolated and consequently many disputes can be waged over the borders in order to secure free and constant passages to the sea. Such disputes, if happened, cannot be resolved only by regional cooperation between inner countries and coastal countries through conducting several agreements and cooperation between each other and at the end the landlocked countries can obtain the facilities to reach the sea. The second theme reaffirms international agreements and the rights of landlocked countries to access the sea as confirmed in Geneva Conference of 1958 to benefit from international seas and demarking the territorial water and assisting the inner countries to access the sea through the lands of coastal countries. However, there are some cases refer not to implement these obligations for many reasons resulted by political differences between the coastal and inner countries. For instance as happened in South Africa, where the international laws and agreements ensured the right of transit for the landlocked countries through the lands of surrounding countries. In this regard, 32 countries signed Barcelona Treaty in 1921, which supports the freedom of crossing through the concerned countries’ lands to facilitate transmitting the goods of neighbouring countries without imposing taxes or getting reasonable transit duty. Some countries did not sign this Treaty, but they held bilateral agreements with neighbouring countries to achieve the main goals. However, in some cases, these bilateral agreements failed in solving all issues of landlocked countries, therefore these countries resorted to international organizations as formerly known The International League to ensure making decisions which support their marine rights in seas and over the lands of transit countries. The third theme concerns the impact of landlocked countries’ position in geopolitical aspects of Mali. It focuses on Mali’s geographic position, which is considered one of most important factors to study the principles of Mali’s political geography, which deals with Mali’s continental, naval and astronomical position and the position of neighbouring countries. Despite astronomical position of Mali, this in basics of political geography is one of the major weaknesses to the political unity from many perspectives. Such geographic position deprives the concerned country from direct communication with any outer country except the countries which have mutual borders. Such case makes Mali draws heavily on neighbouring countries, particularity Mauritania and Senegal as they both overlook AtlanticOcean.
Keywords
Landlocked Position

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