Ambiguous Territory
2021
Graham Island, Mediterranean Sea
Graduate Thesis
Presenting my thesis on Zoom in Spring 2021
In the middle of the Mediterranean, 25 miles off the coast of Sicily, lies an island. This island is 63 meters tall and has a circumference of 4.8 km. There is a summit on the northeastern side with a plain in the middle, where two small ponds lie, the larger of which is 20 meters around and 2 meters deep. This island has a long history for an island that was only discovered in 1831. The first to lay claim to the island were the British, then the Spanish, then the Bourbon kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and France. This island has many names, due to its many conquests. Ferdinandea, "Isle de Julia", "Juliet", "Corrao'' and "Nerita" are among the few. For the purposes of this thesis, we will be referring to the island by its British Name “Graham Island” for reasons that we will become apparent. Graham Islands lies between Sicily and Tunisia in the Strait of Sicily, an important route for trade and travel in the medditiarian both in 1831, when the island was discovered, and today.
With the increase of sea trade up in the Mediterranean 50% since 2001 and 15% of the worlds trade being funneled through the Strait, this island is an important tactical location close to the major shipping lanes through the Mediterranean, and every nation who has a naval presence in the area has realized that whoever claims the island would be at a position to control all commercial and military sea traffic through the area.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, Graham Island does not exist. Graham island is a result of the underwater volcano, Empedocles. Approximately every 60 years this volcano erupts and the volcanic rock creates an island that within a short amount of time, approximately 45 years, the island is eroded away.
Ambiguous Territory asks the question “In a world where space is becoming increasingly less geographically determined, how does the existence of an opaque island affect the spatial and political borders?” Ambiguous Territory: a story told in three acts.
In the early 2020’s, the world started to shift. With the rise of Euroskeptics and the deglobalization of politics, the European Union attempted to hold all of its parts together. The United Kingdom, who left the EU officially in early 2021, was followed soon after by one of the European Union’s “Big Four” Countries, Italy in 2036 and Greece in 2041.
As the world became increasingly fractured, and population in the early 30’s exploded, countries started to look for more space and territory. Some looked to the sky and outer planets, while others looked to add land to the seas.
After the Future Island Act was passed by the United Nations in 2029, constructed islands were included in the definition of “Island” in the 2030 Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Constructed islands were seen, legally, as any other island on earth and could be conquered and territorialized. These built islands, could not be a nation of their own due to the gentlemen's agreement on island ownership countries of the Earth hold. These islands have the same water laws as the rest of the world, in which 12 miles off the coast of the island is the island territory, while outside of that is international waters.
The increase of volcanic activity along the Campi Flegrei del Mar di Sicilia, a region of underwater volcanoes along the Strait of Sicily, in the 20’s and 30’s and the later erupting of Empedocles in late 2035 caused a stir in the Political Sphere. The island once known as Graham Island had formed in the waters above the volcano.
The United Kingdom, technically that last to own Graham Island, immediately made a move on the island, only to receive pushback from Italy and many other countries. The Valencia Agreement of 2036, signed in Valencia, Spain, stated that the UK may temporarily own the island for a period of forty years, at which time, the island would be eligible to be bid upon by another country. This bidding process is be similar to the Olympic games process and a festival is every 40 years to signal the transfer of power.
In 2037, the United Kingdom gained control of Graham Island.
On the surface of the island, the UK builds a small Free Trade Post. Similar to a Free trade Zone, in which taxes on products are lower, and rules for customs are stretched, a Post is similar to a way station, acting as a way to transfer smaller shipments to different ships.
The hollowed out volcano however was used to hide the illegal areas of the free trade Post where Knockoff goods are created and distributed.
Pigeons were brought to the island, and a “Pigeon hotel” was built called the Graham island outpost. These pigeons are dyed different colors to convey different messages from the underground ring to the boats picking up the cargo.
In 2060, 20 years before the scheduled transfer of power, the UK was sold out by upset merchants and was forced to leave the island and their operation.
A new nation, Provost, wins the bid for the island in 2061 in an upset technicality. Most, to define a country, cite a treaty signed in 1933, during the International Conference of American States in Montevideo, Uruguay. The “Montevideo Convention” declares that to become a country, a region needs the following features: a defined territory, a permanent population, a government, and “the capacity to enter into relations with other states”.
By one criterion, England itself is a country that doesn’t exist.
Provost built a city of 1400 on the tectonic scaffolding left over from the free trade zone. Houses, hotels and cafes bring people to the island. high-rise apartments rise up from the island on stilts, balconies littered with hammocks, string lights are scattered across the faces of the towers
The hollowed out Volcano has been retrofitted for mushroom growing to sell to the mainland.
Due to a land conflict, started in 2081, between China and Tibet, Tibet won the 2090 bid to shelter their Budidest Monks that resided on the border of the country. Due to the recent eruption, Graham Island is reset and the volcanic soil is fertile once again.
The monks set up a vineyard in half sphere hollows in the soil and use the grapes to sell wine and preserves.
Some of the residents of Prevost move back to the island, Pigeons take up roost again in the outpost and the island and the island continues on.
