Why does international law shows so limited interest in matters concerning the institutional options and the successes and failures of territorial autonomies? This is the core question discussed by the director of the Åland Islands Peace Institute, associate professor Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark, in her presentation at the biennial conference of the European Society of International Law that took place in Valencia 13-15 September 2012. The conference was attended by international lawyers from all around Europe with invited guests from developing countries and other regions around the world. The overall theme of the conference was ‘Regionalism’ and focus was placed on the relations between the global and regional intergovernmental organizations and in particular between the United Nations and regional organizations with regard to the use of force and efforts to create and maintain peace.
The program of the conference can be accessed here.
The presentation made by Dr Spiliopoulou Åkermark can be dawnloaded in pdf here.
