Wednesday, 26 March 2025

Territorial Disputes and Sovereignty Conflicts in Africa: The Situation in 2025

 

Territorial Disputes and Sovereignty Conflicts in Africa: The Situation in 2025

Africa’s territorial disputes and sovereignty conflicts remain a crucible of historical legacies, legal ambiguities, political rivalries, and sociocultural tensions as of March 2025. Rooted in colonial border-drawing and exacerbated by post-independence struggles, these disputes—spanning over 100 active cases—persist as volatile clashes over land, identity, and power. My research, distilled in 25 posts from October to November 2020 (e.g., Territorial Disputes: Africa, Parts 1-25), predicted their endurance absent radical rethinking—a forecast borne out by recent escalations. Through Sovereignty Conflicts (2017), Territorial Disputes (2020), and Cosmopolitanism and State Sovereignty (2023), I probe justice, complexity, and pluralism, while my forthcoming Territorial Disputes in the Americas (2025) informs broader resolution proposals.

Latest Developments: Escalating Violence and Fragile Stalemates

In March 2025, tensions flared anew across the continent. On March 13, posts on X reported Ethiopia and Eritrea mobilizing forces near their border, with Tigray officials warning of imminent war amid internal power struggles—a legacy of the 1998-2000 war and the 2020-2022 Tigray conflict (Africa Part 8). Reuters noted Sudan’s ongoing civil war, with over 10 million displaced since 2023, as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) vie for Khartoum (Africa Part 15). In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the M23 rebel group, backed by Rwanda, seized Goma in January 2025 (ACLED), displacing thousands and reigniting the Rwanda-DRC proxy war (Africa Part 12). Meanwhile, the Sahel’s jihadist expansion—Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM)—saw fatalities in Niger surge 60% in 2024 (Africa Center), threatening Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger’s sovereignty (Africa Part 19).

My 2020 posts (Parts 1-5) traced Africa’s disputes to colonial partitions—e.g., the 1884 Berlin Conference—imposing arbitrary borders that ignored ethnic realities. Part 6 foresaw escalation without equitable resource division, now evident in Sudan’s 10 million displaced and DRC’s 2025 Goma crisis. Parts 10-15 critiqued international inertia, mirrored today in stalled UN-AU mediation efforts.

Historical Context: Colonial Roots and Post-Independence Strife

Africa’s sovereignty conflicts stem from a colonial past that carved 54 states from diverse ethnic tapestries (Africa Part 2). The Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963 upheld these borders to avert chaos, yet this froze tensions—e.g., Somalia-Somaliland’s unresolved split (Africa Part 14). The 1998 Ethiopia-Eritrea war, sparked by the Badme dispute, killed 70,000 over a barren strip, reflecting colonial cartography’s enduring scars (Africa Part 8). In Western Sahara, Morocco’s 1975 annexation defied Spain’s exit, leaving the Polisario Front’s independence bid unresolved (Africa Part 11). Parts 1-5 argued these historical fault lines—Ottoman, British, French legacies—set precedents for today’s violence.

Legal and Political Context: Fragile Frameworks

Legally, the UN Charter and AU Constitutive Act affirm territorial integrity, yet enforcement falters. The 2000 Algiers Agreement ending Ethiopia-Eritrea’s war awarded Badme to Eritrea, but Ethiopia’s non-compliance persists (Africa Part 9). The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on Nigeria-Cameroon’s Bakassi Peninsula in 2002, yet local resistance lingers (Africa Part 13). In Sudan, neither SAF nor RSF faces ICC accountability for 2023-2025 atrocities, despite Geneva Convention breaches (Africa Part 20). Parts 16-20 argued legal frameworks collapse without enforcement—Ethiopia’s border defiance and Sudan’s impunity prove this.

Politically, domestic fragility fuels disputes. Sudan’s 2023 coup dissolved a transitional government, splitting power between SAF and RSF (Africa Part 15). DRC’s weak state enables M23’s resurgence, with Rwanda’s backing reflecting regional power plays (Africa Part 12). The Sahel’s juntas— Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger—exit from ECOWAS in January 2025 (FRS) signals sovereignty assertions against regional norms (Africa Part 19). Sovereignty Conflicts (2017) frames this as distributive injustice—land and rights skew toward stronger actors—while Territorial Disputes (2020) notes empirical deadlock (10 million displaced in Sudan) and value clashes (security vs. self-determination).

Sociological and Cultural Dimensions: Identity and Resources

Sociologically, Africa’s 3,000+ ethnic groups clash over land tied to identity (Africa Part 3). The Bawku chieftaincy dispute in Ghana, pitting Mamprusi against Kusasi, escalated in 2024, spilling into North East region (ACLED) (Africa Part 17). In Nigeria’s Niger Delta, oil wealth stokes Ijaw-Itsekiri tensions, predating but intensified by extraction (Africa Part 22). Culturally, pastoralist-farmer conflicts—e.g., Fulani vs. Anti-balaka in Central African Republic (CAR)—blend livelihood disputes with ethnic divides (Africa Part 18). Parts 6-9 warned of narrative wars—2025’s “ethnic cleansing” claims in DRC lack evidence but inflame tensions.

Religiously, disputes intertwine with faith. Somalia’s Al-Shabaab insurgency leverages Islam to challenge Mogadishu’s sovereignty (Africa Part 14), while CAR’s Christian-Muslim clashes reflect colonial-era divides (Africa Part 18). Cosmopolitanism and State Sovereignty (2023) sees this as a multi-agent tangle—state, rebels, faiths—distorting truth.

Domestic, Regional and International Dynamics

Domestically, weak governance breeds conflict. Sudan’s 48% internally displaced population (Africa Center) reflects state failure (Africa Part 15). Regionally, the Horn of Africa’s Ethiopia-Eritrea-Somalia triangle destabilizes borders, with Eritrea’s March 2025 mobilization echoing 1998 (Africa Part 8). The Great Lakes’ DRC-Rwanda rift, with Angola’s failed December 2024 mediation (ACLED), shows regional peace’s limits (Africa Part 12). Internationally, foreign powers exploit vacuums—Russia and UAE back Sudan’s RSF, while China eyes DRC minerals (Africa Center) (Africa Part 23). Parts 10-15 flagged UN-AU weakness—2025’s vetoed Sudan resolutions (UN) affirm this.

Published Research and Open Data

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) records 39,787 deaths in Sudan by July 2024, civilians outnumbering fighters (Africa Part 21). In DRC, M23’s January 2025 Goma takeover followed 2024’s 25% violence spike (ACLED). The UN’s March 13, 2025, Sudan report alleges “genocidal acts” but lacks raw data, risking bias (Africa Part 24). Parts 21-25 predicted civilian tolls from advanced warfare—Sahel’s 11,000 deaths in 2024 (Africa Center) bear this out.

UN and International Response: Feeble Efforts

The UN-AU partnership, vital per October 2024 Security Council briefings, falters. Sudan’s crisis—world’s largest displacement—sees no ceasefire (Africa Part 15). DRC’s July 2024 ceasefire collapsed by December (ACLED), with Rwanda rejecting Kinshasa talks (Africa Part 12). The AU’s Mediation Support Unit (2016) and ECOWAS’s decline (FRS) underscore institutional limits (Africa Part 23). Sovereignty Conflicts (2017) decries this—10 million displaced in Sudan—while Territorial Disputes (2020) notes vetoes paralyze action.

Evidence vs. Manipulation

Parts 6-9 warned of narrative wars—2025 amplifies this. Al-Shabaab claims Somali sovereignty threats, yet offers no proof (Africa Part 14). DRC’s M23 asserts precision, but civilian deaths surge (ACLED). Territorial Disputes (2020) demands rigor—evidence ties tolls to military aims, not proven targeting, despite UN claims.

New Paths: Regional Solutions

Africa’s disputes expose global order’s collapse—centralized bodies fail, as Parts 23-25 predicted. Cosmopolitanism and State Sovereignty (2023) urges multi-agent solutions; Territorial Disputes in the Americas (2025) refines this: regional bodies over a paralyzed UN. The Arab League’s 2002 model could inspire—ECOWAS or SADC mediating Sudan’s split, or IGAD brokering Ethiopia-Eritrea peace with Djibouti as guarantor (Africa Part 25). Co-sovereignty—shared Nile waters or Congo Basin zones—could balance security and survival (Sovereignty Conflicts, 2017). This demands mindset shifts—Sahel juntas resist (FRS), and militias rigidify lines.

Conclusion

Africa’s territorial disputes in 2025—Sudan’s 10 million displaced, DRC’s Goma fall, Ethiopia-Eritrea’s brinkmanship—mirror my 2020 research: justice skews (Sahel’s 11,000 dead), complexity entrenches (DRC’s proxy war), and pluralism fractures (UN-AU rifts). Parts 1-5 rooted this historically, 6-15 exposed legal-political rot, 16-25 urged new lenses. Evidence ties civilian tolls to military aims (ACLED), yet manipulation clouds truth (UN data gaps). The current order fails—Sovereignty Conflicts demands equity, Territorial Disputes adaptability, Cosmopolitanism multi-agent hope. Regional guarantors and co-sovereignty offer paths, if rigid mindsets yield. My posts (below), free online, trace this fault line; readers can join this reimagining.

Invitation to “The Borders We Share”

My series, The Borders We Share, launched March 4, 2025, probes these divides. A sample post (https://drjorge.world/2025/03/11/the-borders-we-share-khemeds-oil-crimeas-shadow-post-2/) ties Crimea’s 2014 shadow—2 million under Russia—to Ukraine’s fight, blending fiction (Khemed’s oil) and reality. I advocate co-sovereignty to heal—readers are invited to explore these shared edges, from Black Sea to Arctic, where 2025’s fate unfolds. Next week, Post #3: Sherlock’s Docks, Ireland’s Edge: Clues to Equal Ground (i.e. Imagine Sherlock Holmes untangling a dockside brawl over fish and fog—then picture Northern Ireland’s border after Brexit, a real-life riddle of fences and feelings).

Links to Previous Posts

AUTHOR’S SAMPLE PEER-REVIEWED ACADEMIC RESEARCH (FREE OPEN ACCESS):

State Sovereignty: Concept and Conceptions (OPEN ACCESS) (IJSL 2024)

AUTHOR’S PUBLISHED WORK AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE VIA:

AMAZON

ROUTLEDGE, TAYLOR & FRANCIS

Wednesday 26th March 2025

Dr Jorge Emilio Núñez

X (formerly, Twitter): https://x.com/DrJorge_World

https://drjorge.world

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Tuesday, 25 March 2025

The Borders We Share: Sherwood’s Green, Amazon’s Roots (Post 4)

 


The Borders We Share: A New Way to Fix a Broken World

Section 1: Foundations of the Multiverse (Posts 1–6)

Blog Post #4: Sherwood’s Green, Amazon’s Roots: Forests for All

In a Nutshell

Picture Robin Hood facing off with the Sheriff over Sherwood’s ancient oaks—then shift to the Amazon, where Brazil’s government and Indigenous tribes wrestle for a jungle that sustains the world. These are battles over green: land, legacy, life itself. In The Borders We Share, I’m planting a seed: no single victor needed. Split the roots equitably, and the forest thrives for all. Let’s wander these woods—one a legend, one a living stakes—and see if sharing can mend what conquest tears apart.

The Adventure Takes Root

Robin Hood’s arrows slicing through Sherwood’s mist grabbed me as a kid—not just for the outlaw swagger, but for the raw tug-of-war over who claims the wild. Those childhood tales stuck, whispering questions about justice in contested spaces. In The Borders We Share, I’m tracking that thread, turning border fights into shared futures. Last week, Sherlock unraveled a dockside feud and Ireland’s Brexit knot. Today, we’re stepping into Sherwood’s green and the Amazon’s canopy—forests where power and people lock horns, but where a new path might sprout. Grab your quiver; the trail’s alive with possibility.

First, Sherwood—a tale I’m borrowing from the public domain, not owning. It’s medieval England: gnarled oaks twist skyward, deer dart through undergrowth, and Robin’s band slips through the shadows. They hunt to survive, staking the forest as their refuge from a crushing feudal order. The Sheriff, puffed up with royal writ, calls it the king’s—tax it, fence it, string up the poachers who dare defy. Locals—woodcutters hauling logs, farmers grazing pigs—rely on its timber and game; the crown smells coin, control, and a chance to flex dominion. Arrows whistle, axes bite into trunks, and the green heart shrinks as both sides dig in, each claiming the forest’s soul. Can Robin and the Sheriff carve up the woods without burning them down?

Now, cross the ocean to the Amazon—a vast, steamy sprawl across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. Its borders carry scars from Spanish and Portuguese colonial hands. Spain’s haphazard lines, drawn with little care for terrain or tribes, left gaps after independence splintered its empire. Portugal, ruling Brazil until 1822, muscled in with uti possidetis de facto—boots on soil trumping dusty titles—pushing beyond 1810 borders with Bolivia and Peru. Treaties like 1494’s Tordesillas split the unknown with bravado, while 1750’s Madrid and 1904’s Petrópolis locked Brazil’s gains, often at Spain’s expense. Disputes like Ecuador-Peru’s festered until 1998’s Brasilia Peace Agreement, nudged by guarantors (Brazil, U.S., Argentina, Chile), settled the lines. Borders gelled, but the fight morphed. Today, it includes Indigenous tribes—Yanomami, Munduruku, Kayapó—against Brazil’s state and firms ravenous for gold, soy, timber. Since 2019, deforestation’s roared—12,088 km² lost in 2022, per INPE—mines spew mercury into rivers, tribal lands shrink under bulldozers. It’s Sherwood’s feud, scaled up with chainsaws and a planetary heartbeat.

The Thicket of It All

These aren’t mere land grabs—they’re tapestries of people, pasts, and power, woven with threads of desperation and ambition. My 2020 book, Territorial Disputes, tosses out “border spat” as too tidy—think agents (tribes, states, peasants), contexts (colonial ghosts, modern greed), realms (law, survival, ecology). Sherwood’s peasants need firewood to cook, warmth to endure winter; the Sheriff craves order to shine before his king. In the Amazon, the Yanomami fish rivers now laced with poison—11 tons of gold ripped out yearly, says Greenpeace—while Brazil’s “progress” means soy fields, beef ranches, and a GDP bump. My 2017 work, Sovereignty Conflicts, spots the puppeteers: the Sheriff’s king flexes prestige to keep nobles in line; Brazil’s elite cash in—deforestation spiked under Bolsonaro, eased post-2023, but the appetite endures. Outsiders stir the brew—Normans in Sherwood pressuring the crown, multinationals in Amazonia chasing timber and profit margins.

The colonial past cuts deeper still. Spain and Portugal carved South America with blunt knives—Spain’s vague frontiers ignored Indigenous lives, deeming them invisible in law, while Portugal’s treaties like Tordesillas sliced the unknown with swagger, claiming half a continent unseen. Both saw tribes as shadows—either not “persons” (lands free to claim via terra nullius) or “lesser” (titles snuffed by “civilized” might). Post-independence, Brazil’s uti possidetis de facto gobbled colonial leftovers; Portugal’s legacy fueled its heft, turning Brazil into the region’s giant. Today, international law nods to Indigenous rights—UN’s 2007 Declaration, 2016’s American Declaration—but clings to old rules like terra nullius and uti possidetis, sidelining tribal “effective occupation,” per the International Court of Justice. Brazil’s Constitution tips a hat to Indigenous land, yet the Amazon churns: states, tribes, NGOs, firms, scientists—all tugging a resource-rich web strung tight with tension.

Here’s my axe, from 2017: egalitarian shared sovereignty. Imagine Robin and the Sheriff, blind to rank, hashing out, “What’s just?” They’d split it—hunting rights for outlaws to feed their families, taxes for the crown to fund roads, timber for locals to build homes, the strong propping the weak. Four rules: all talk as equals, jobs fit skills (hunters hunt, taxmen tally), rewards match effort (wood for those who chop), big players lift the small (crown aids peasants). In the Amazon: Brazil farms edges for export, tribes guard the core as stewards, carbon credits divvy up—tribes thrive with schools and clinics, not just suits with profits. My 2023 book, Cosmopolitanism, layers it in 3D—agents (Kayapó, Brasília), contexts (colonial roots, global lungs), realms (law, ethics, ecology), tangled like vines in a quantum dance. Sherwood’s deer ban? Sheriff’s ego. Amazon’s rush? Greed, not justice.

Why Sharing Grows Stronger

All-or-nothing fells the forest. Sherwood’s war thins the herd—nobody eats, the oaks dwindle. The Amazon bleeds carbon—1.5 billion tons yearly, per WWF—tribes lose homes, rivers die under mercury’s weight. In 2017, I tested this on Kashmir: India gets water, Pakistan security, locals jobs—pride holds firm. My 2023 lens digs a 2021 Brazilian poll—78% want protection, not plunder, a cry for balance. Sherwood could split seasons—Robin hunts winter, Sheriff summers, wood shared year-round to warm every hearth. Amazon? Zones—tribes steward jungle hearts, Brazil works borders, profits fund schools, health, clean water. History whispers—Sherwood’s oaks stood centuries; the Amazon’s tribes rooted millennia before Portugal’s flag or Spain’s cross claimed a single root. Guarantors steadied Ecuador-Peru with outside eyes; they could anchor this too, ensuring promises stick. Every voice counts—outlaws, Munduruku, not just lords or lawmakers.

Sharing’s not a pipe dream—it’s practical, rooted in precedent. Brazil’s past proves borders bend: Portugal’s 1750 deal with Spain traded land for peace, a pragmatic swap; modern guarantors sealed Ecuador-Peru, proving third-party weight works. Indigenous rights creep forward—Bolivia’s Indigenous leaders rise, Ecuador’s tribal clout grows—starting local, rippling out to reshape power. The Amazon’s wealth—timber, oxygen, gold—demands inclusion, not exclusion. Split it right, and the forest breathes for all, a living testament to equity over conquest.

The Thorns of Doubt

Skeptics hack back: “Sovereignty’s lone—sharing’s a fable.” The Sheriff won’t yield his royal leash; Brazil won’t blink—1,900 km² razed in 2023, per Imazon, despite global pleas. Power rules—royal writ in Sherwood, agribusiness in Brasília (68% rural vote, 2018, locked Bolsonaro in). Leaders feed on strife—Sheriff’s glory keeps him seated, Bolsonaro’s base cheered the chainsaws. Outsiders muddy it—Norman nobles pressed the crown, firms gobble soy for foreign plates. Indigenous claims? Law lags—the UN Declaration’s not binding, ICJ shrugs at tribal tenure, stuck in colonial ruts. Who’d sign on? Fair barb—my 2017 fix needs trust, a rare coin; reality’s thornier, thick with mistrust and old grudges.

But pause: sovereignty’s never pure, always a negotiation. My 2020 work shows it—Gibraltar’s UK bends to EU rules, ASEAN ties sea foes in uneasy knots. Latin America shifts—Mexico’s autonomy push, Peru’s Indigenous voice—tribes gain domestically first, cracking colonial molds. Portugal’s grip loosened in 1822; Spain’s faded earlier. In 2017, I bet on reason—Sherwood’s folk craved peace over blood; Amazon tribes (80% favor rights, per 2022 FUNAI) want life, not loss. My 2023 multiverse spots the weave—Kashmir’s jobs beat flags; Amazon’s air could too. Sharing’s not soft—it’s a sturdy graft, pruning waste for growth.

Why This Sprouts in You

Sherwood’s green and Amazon’s roots aren’t just tales—they’re us. A poacher’s kid goes hungry; a Yanomami elder breathes smoke, her river choked. The Borders We Share says we can replant—split the forest, not the fight. Next week, “Atlantis Rising, Antarctic Thaw: Deep Claims, Shared Wins” dives into icy stakes—same fix, new frost. I’m Dr. Jorge, spinning this into a book you’ll grab someday. Swing by https://drjorge.world or X (https://x.com/DrJorge_World)—let’s grow this together.

Branches to Climb

  • Núñez, J.E. (2017). Sovereignty Conflicts (Ch. 6, 7).
  • Núñez, J.E. (2020). Territorial Disputes (Ch. 1, 7).
  • Núñez, J.E. (2023). Cosmopolitanism and State Sovereignty (Ch. 1, 6, 7).

NOTE:

New posts every Tuesday.

PREVIOUS POSTS:

  1. Entangled Worlds, Shared Futures: A New Border Blueprint
    https://london1701.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-borders-we-share-entangled-worlds.html

    2. Khemed’s Oil, Crimea’s Shadow: Splitting the Stakes

    https://london1701.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-borders-we-share-khemeds-oil.html

    3.1. Sherlock’s Docks, Ireland’s Edge: Clues to Equal Ground

    https://london1701.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-borders-we-share-sherlocks-docks.html

      3.1. Bonus

      https://london1701.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-borders-we-share-sherlocks-docks_21.html

      NEXT POSTS:

      Section 1: Foundations of the Multiverse (Posts 1–6)

      5. Atlantis Rising, Antarctic Thaw: Deep Claims, Shared Wins

      Atlantis rivals; Antarctic resource race.

      6. Narnia’s Ice, Cyprus Split: Thrones in Balance

      Narnian kings divide; Cyprus partition.

      AUTHOR’S SAMPLE PEER-REVIEWED ACADEMIC RESEARCH (FREE OPEN ACCESS):

      State Sovereignty: Concept and Conceptions (OPEN ACCESS) (IJSL 2024)

      AUTHOR’S PUBLISHED WORK AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE VIA:

      AMAZON

      ROUTLEDGE, TAYLOR & FRANCIS

      Tuesday 25th March 2025

      Dr Jorge Emilio Núñez

      X (formerly, Twitter): https://x.com/DrJorge_World

      https://drjorge.world

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      Friday, 21 March 2025

      The Borders We Share: Sherlock’s Docks, Ireland’s Edge (Post 3.1 Bonus)

       

      The Borders We Share: A New Way to Fix a Broken World

      Section 1: Foundations of the Multiverse (Posts 1–6)

      Blog Post #3.1 (Bonus): Sherlock’s Docks, Ireland’s Edge: Clues to Equal Ground

      In a Nutshell

      It was with no small measure of astonishment that I, John H. Watson, observed my friend Sherlock Holmes seize upon a most curious pair of problems presented in the third instalment of The Borders We Share, penned by Dr. Jorge Emilio Núñez. The first—a dockside altercation set in our own London of the 1890s, a squalid affair of fish and fog where rough-hewn fishermen and sleek profiteers vie for a wharf’s dominion. The second—a modern vexation in Northern Ireland, 2025, where the shadow of Brexit has cast a pall over a once-peaceful border, stirring old feuds and new fears among its divided folk. Dr. Jorge, with his scholarly bent, proposed a remedy: not the triumph of one over another, but a sharing of the stakes—a notion as bold as it is unorthodox. Holmes, ever the skeptic of untested theories, took it as a challenge to his intellect. “Watson,” said he, “here are two Gordian knots—one of my own devising, one bleeding in the present day. I shall cut through both with the keen edge of reason.”

      Through the haze of his pipe smoke, he fixed me with that piercing gaze I knew so well, a glint of anticipation in his hawk-like eyes. “Picture it, Watson: the docks, a reeking stage where labour clashes with greed, nets tangle, and fish rot—yet beneath lies a riddle of ownership and survival. Then, across the Irish Sea, a land green and troubled, where history’s scars and modern trade weave a tapestry of discord—pride, partition, and the spectre of violence lurking in the mist. Dr. Jorge bids us share the spoils, but I shall not rest on conjecture. I’ll unearth the clues—trace the threads of time and space—and forge a solution that stands scrutiny. Step into my mind, old friend; we’ve a fog to pierce, fictional and factual alike.” His voice carried that quiet intensity that brooked no refusal, and I, ever the faithful chronicler, took up my pen to record the singular adventure that followed.

      The Adventure Unfolds

      It was a chill March evening in 2025 when I found myself once more in the cluttered sanctum of 221B Baker Street. The fire crackled, casting shadows on the walls strewn with maps and chemical stains, as Holmes sat cross-legged, a cloud of shag tobacco wreathing his lean frame. Before him lay Dr. Jorge’s latest missive—Post #3 of The Borders We Share—its pages marked with his spidery scrawl. “Watson,” said he, his voice cutting through the haze, “here is a matter worthy of our attention. Two disputes: one a trifle of my own imagining, the other a festering wound in the modern age. Dr. Jorge suggests sharing the spoils—a quaint theory, but I shall test it with facts.”

      He rose, pacing with that restless energy I knew so well. “First, a dockside squabble—London, 1890s, a reek of fish and coal dust along the Thames. Then, Northern Ireland, 2025, tangled in Brexit’s web. Both are knots of human folly, ripe for unravelling. Fetch your notebook, Watson; we begin.” I obeyed, pen poised, as he launched into his narrative with the precision of a surgeon’s blade.

      “Our dock case,” he commenced, “is thus: the Thames Trawlers, a hardy band of fishermen—some twenty souls, I reckon, from the breadth of their nets—claim a wharf by right of toil. Their hands are rough as the oak they tread, hauling fifty barrels daily, if tide marks speak true. Against them stand the Fog Cutters, a dozen sleek rogues with a deed—too crisp, its ink suspect—asserting ownership. The wharf, 200 yards of prime timber, offers deep water for boats and sheds for cod. Fists clash, nets rot, and fish spoil in the fray. You’d call it chaos, Watson, but I see a pattern.”

      He paused, tapping the page. “Dr. Jorge’s 2023 work—Chapter 6, mark you—speaks of dimensions. Vertically, the Trawlers are labour incarnate: sweat, salt, survival for perhaps a hundred mouths. The Cutters? Capital clad in silk, chasing twenty per cent profit per load—dock logs hint it. Horizontally, they snarl: Trawlers guard their livelihood, Cutters crave expansion. Time muddies it—fifty years of fishing, no clear title save tales; a ledger from 1840, half-illegible, shows shared use once. Space binds it—200 yards, measurable by my stride. But there’s more—a nonlinear thread, Watson. A fish baron’s carts trundle too often—three daily this month, triple last year’s tally. His game eludes the common eye, but not mine.”

      He turned, eyes gleaming. “Now, Ireland—a thornier knot. Northern Ireland, 2025: a green quilt, 1.8 million souls, part of the United Kingdom, brushing the Republic, an EU bastion. History broods heavy: Catholics—nationalists—dream of Irish unity; Protestants—unionists—cling to Britain. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement softened the border—100 miles, 200 crossings, once a war zone of 30,000 dead, now a thread of peace. Then Brexit: the UK departs in 2020, 58 per cent of Northern Irish voting ‘stay,’ yet out they went. Trade—£4 billion north-south, says the 2024 ledger—demands checks, yet a hard border risks blood. Vertically: the UK, a state of 65 million, its crown unyielding; Ireland, 5 million, its south a mirror; locals, split—45 per cent unionist, 40 per cent nationalist, per 2021’s count. Horizontally: UK and Ireland chafe, locals waver. Time stacks it—1690’s battles, 1921’s split, 1998’s truce, 2020’s rift. Space squeezes—100 miles, Belfast’s port a choke. Nonlinear? Politicians strut, EU pulls strings, fear hums—60 per cent dread violence, a 2023 poll avers.”

      Clues Under the Lens

      Holmes leaned forward, his thin fingers steepled. “Dr. Jorge’s multidimensionality—linear and nonlinear—guides us, Watson. Agents play roles in contexts—domestic, regional, global—across realms of fact, norm, and value. Time and space twist the tale. But I deal in evidence, not abstractions. Let us dig.”

      He snatched a magnifying glass, peering at an imagined scrap. “Docks: the Trawlers’ nets—coarse hemp, fifty barrels daily, tide-stained to prove it. Their boots, caked in river mud, number twenty pairs along the quay. The Cutters’ deed—ink fresh as yesterday’s Times, creased oddly; a chemist could date it to 1889, not 1860. I’d wager a sovereign it’s forged. Their carriage tracks—twelve sets, shallow, silk heels beside them—mark their number. Time whispers: fifty years of fishing, no writ save a 1840 ledger I’d unearth from Guildhall, its ink faded but true—shared hauls once. Space: 200 yards—100 for boats, measured by the splash; 80 for sheds, stacked with cod; 20 for passage, narrow as a thief’s alley. Nonlinear? That baron—his carts, three daily, wheels grooved deep; his warehouse holds fifty extra barrels, pilfered, I’d prove with a dust-brush on his ledgers. His ink matches the deed—my Stradivarius on it.”

      He smirked, then grew grave. “Ireland’s murkier. Trade—£4 billion north-south, 2024, per the Office of Statistics—flows vital; 200 crossings hum, ten carts weekly dodge tax, customs mutter. Locals—1.8 million: 45 per cent unionist, 40 per cent nationalist, 15 per cent adrift, 2021 census. Fear—60 per cent dread guns, 2023 Ipsos; trust frays—70 per cent backed 1998, 1999 poll, now 60 per cent cling, 2022 tally. Time—1690’s Boyne scars, 1921’s partition, 1998’s balm, 2020’s jolt. Space—100 miles: Derry’s bend, Belfast’s bustle, Dundalk’s gate. Nonlinear: unionist rallies—thirty per cent up since 2020, police logs; nationalist drums echo—five marches monthly, tit-for-tat. EU’s 2024 tariff tweak eases trade, not tempers; a smuggler’s cart—ten crossings, untaxed whiskey—tests the line’s pulse. I’d trail it, Watson, to a barn off the A1—proof in the casks.”

      Holmes’ Verdict

      Holmes straightened, ash falling from his pipe as he fixed me with a steely look. “Dr. Jorge’s 2017 remedy—egalitarian shared sovereignty—holds water if carved sharp, Watson. It demands a council of equals, blind to might, a notion I’ll refine with logic’s edge. Consider the docks: a triad—Trawlers, Cutters, locals—each granted voice. Vertically, their essence dictates: the Trawlers fish—fifty barrels daily, their craft honed by years at the net; the Cutters trade—twenty per cent profit per load, their guile in ledgers and markets; the locals mend nets—ten shillings weekly, their nimble fingers threading hemp. Horizontally, their relations demand order: shifts split the day—morning for Trawlers, when the tide runs strongest and fish swarm; noon for Cutters, when buyers throng the quay; dusk for mending, when light fades but hands still work. Rewards must follow effort—fish apportioned by the barrel hauled, coin by the sale struck, tools by the stitch sewn. No man gains what he does not earn, yet the strong bolster the weak—the Cutters’ profits might mend a Trawler’s boat, say.”

      He paced, voice rising. “Time shapes it—seasonal quotas: winter for Trawlers, when cod run thick; summer for Cutters, when trade peaks; a yearly tally ensures balance. Space divides the 200 yards with precision—100 for boats, marked by the water’s edge; 80 for sheds, stacked with barrels; 20 for passage, a narrow lane chalked firm. Nonlinear threads? That baron’s game ends here—his fifty barrels, pilfered amid the fray, seized as evidence; his forgery, proven by ink and crease, my lever. I’d turn his hoard to a co-op—funds to buy nets, mend sheds, shared by all. The result? Fish flow to market, fists fall idle—profit without plunder, a solution as clean as a geometric proof.”

      He wheeled about, eyes alight. “Now, Ireland—a triad of UK, Ireland, and locals, co-governing the line. Vertically: the UK rules north ports—£2 billion in trade, its strength in ships and customs; Ireland oversees south flow—£2 billion, its mirror in Dublin’s grasp; locals guard peace—1.8 million eyes, their soul split yet vital. Horizontally: a joint customs—UK checks Belfast’s docks, Ireland Dundalk’s gates, locals vote rules yearly by plebiscite, their voices the fulcrum. Rewards split fair—£2 billion divided, half to each state, jobs by skill: 5,000 souls as drivers, clerks, guards, hired by merit not flag. Time frames it—five-year terms, renewing 1998’s trust; a decade’s peace could root it deep. Space maps it—100 miles: 50 north, 50 south, crossings shared, marked by posts not walls.”

      “Nonlinear?” he mused, tapping the mantel. “Rallies muted—bluster earns no ballot; the EU advises, its 2024 tweak a scaffold, not a yoke. That smuggler’s cart—ten crossings weekly, untaxed whiskey—yields £50,000 yearly in tax, I’d see it seized and turned to border posts, manned by locals. The outcome? Trade hums like a well-tuned engine—£4 billion flows unchecked; guns rest silent, fear’s 60 per cent quelled. A rational chord, Watson, struck across dimensions—linear roles anchor, nonlinear risks tamed. Dr. Jorge’s vision holds, if forged in evidence.”

      The Other Side

      “Stuff and nonsense, Holmes!” I burst out, my patience fraying. “You paint a pretty picture, but men grip power like gold—sharing’s a fool’s errand! At the docks, the Cutters clutch their deed, forged or not—it’s theirs in their eyes; the Trawlers’ fists won’t unclench, hunger’s a brute master. Fifty barrels or twenty per cent profit—neither yields an inch when pride’s at stake. Time—fifty years of fishing, yes, but fifty years of grudges too; that 1840 ledger’s a ghost, unheeded. Space—200 yards, a scrap too small for peace, each yard a battleground. And that baron? He’ll bribe or bully his way clear—carts roll on, co-op be damned!”

      I pressed on, voice rising. “Ireland’s worse—the UK digs in, smarting from 58 per cent voting ‘stay,’ a wound to its crown; Ireland pulls south, nationalists cheer, unionists balk—60 per cent fear violence, Ipsos says, and they’re not wrong! Time drags heavy—1690’s Boyne, 1921’s split, centuries of hate; 1998’s truce frays, 2020’s jolt snaps it. Space—100 miles, 200 crossings, a smuggler’s sieve—ten carts weekly prove it. Nonlinear chaos runs riot—unionist rallies, thirty per cent up since 2020, police logs swear it; nationalist drums beat five marches monthly, a mirror of spite. The EU meddles, its 2024 tweak a sop, not a fix; politicians strut—DUP’s thunder, Sinn Féin’s chants—ego’s fuel. Trust’s a phantom, Holmes—Dr. Jorge’s reason drowns in this din!”

      He smiled thinly, a flicker of amusement in his gaunt face. “Your passion blinds you, Watson, but not entirely astray. Yet consider: the docks shared once—1870s logs, faded but true, show fish split peaceably; Trawlers ate, Cutters sold, baron or no. Hunger bends pride when bellies growl—fifty barrels feed a hundred, twenty per cent fills a purse. Ireland? 1998 held firm—70 per cent backed it, 1999 poll; 60 per cent cling still, 2022 tally. Time heals if forced; space yields if carved—200 crossings flowed once, can again. Nonlinear risks—rallies, meddling—fade when roles bind: UK, Ireland, locals tethered by trade’s £4 billion pulse. Dr. Jorge’s dimensions align—linear order anchors, nonlinear folly hedges. Reason bends even brutes, if the lever’s sharp.”

      Why This Matters

      As the fire dwindled to embers, Holmes stood silhouetted against the window, the gaslight of Baker Street casting a halo about him. “From the slime of London’s docks to the mist of Ireland’s green hills, Watson, borders test the mettle of men—yet they yield to a keen eye and a steady hand. Dr. Jorge’s multiverse—his agents, contexts, realms, dimensions—sings a subtle tune here, one I’ve tuned to evidence. The Trawlers’ nets and the Cutters’ deed, the UK’s ports and Ireland’s crossings—these are not mere squabbles but threads in a vast tapestry, woven across time and space. I’ve cut the knot with logic’s blade; it falls to others—perhaps you, old friend—to tie it firm with will and deed.”

      He turned, his voice softening, though no less resolute. “This is no idle exercise. At the docks, a hundred mouths hang on the catch—children with hollow cheeks, wives with weary hands; in Ireland, 1.8 million souls teeter on peace’s edge—farmers fretting trade, mothers dreading guns anew. Dr. Jorge’s vision—sharing over seizing—offers a lifeline, not a dream, if grounded in fact. I’ve traced the clues: fifty barrels, £4 billion, a smuggler’s cart—all proofs of a world that bends to reason. His next tale roams Sherwood—mind that green, Watson; it’ll test this method anew. For now, the game’s afoot beyond these walls—visit https://drjorge.world or his https://x.com/DrJorge_World, and join the chase. Men may cling to power, but truth cuts deeper—mark that, and we’ll mend what folly breaks.”

      Clues to Chase

      • Núñez, J.E. (2017). Sovereignty Conflicts (Ch. 6, 7).
      • Núñez, J.E. (2020). Territorial Disputes (Ch. 1, 7).
      • Núñez, J.E. (2023). Cosmopolitanism and State Sovereignty (Ch. 1, 6, 7).

      NOTE:

      New posts every Tuesday. Bonus posts as inspiration strikes. This time it is thanks to Reddit user Agreeable_Bid7037 from r/SherlockHolmes!

      PREVIOUS POSTS:

      1. Entangled Worlds, Shared Futures: A New Border Blueprint

        https://london1701.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-borders-we-share-entangled-worlds.html

        2. Khemed’s Oil, Crimea’s Shadow: Splitting the Stakes

        https://london1701.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-borders-we-share-khemeds-oil.html

          3. Sherlock’s Docks, Ireland’s Edge: Clues to Equal Ground

          https://london1701.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-borders-we-share-sherlocks-docks.html

          NEXT POSTS:

          Section 1: Foundations of the Multiverse (Posts 1–6)

          4. Sherwood’s Green, Amazon’s Roots: Forests for All

          Robin Hood vs. Sheriff; Brazil-Indigenous clash.

          5. Atlantis Rising, Antarctic Thaw: Deep Claims, Shared Wins

          Atlantis rivals; Antarctic resource race.

            6. Narnia’s Ice, Cyprus Split: Thrones in Balance

            Narnian kings divide; Cyprus partition.

                AUTHOR’S SAMPLE PEER-REVIEWED ACADEMIC RESEARCH (FREE OPEN ACCESS):

                State Sovereignty: Concept and Conceptions (OPEN ACCESS) (IJSL 2024)

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                ROUTLEDGE, TAYLOR & FRANCIS

                Friday 21st March 2025

                Dr Jorge Emilio Núñez

                X (formerly, Twitter): https://x.com/DrJorge_World

                https://drjorge.world

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