What is a Country? How Capitalism is Transforming our Notions of Territory

Two weeks ago, I gave a talk in Manila about one of my projects, Voluminous Territories. Using Cyprus as a case study, I explained how private companies, in the name of Capital, are reshaping our world and transforming our notions of territory.

Throughout history, we used maps to navigate the world and depict it as we knew it, but they were never actually accurate representations of reality. Maps have always been mere artefacts of different perspectives. How we define borders and visualize the spaces we live in continually shape our notions of the world, society and ourselves. 

Fascinatingly, despite the apparent 4-dimensionality of space, our perception of territories is often two-dimensional. But territories are constituted by land, sea, air and space. Territories have volume. 

There is an ancient Latin phrase, “Whoever owns the soil, it is theirs up to Heaven and down to Hell”.  But we argue that today, in many countries, especially the Republic of Cyprus, this is not the case. 

Due to shifting political and economic interests, Cyprus has been under divided control throughout its history and up to the present. The development of new technologies and businesses continuously offer new opportunities for Cyprus (and vice versa). As Cyprus continues to accommodate private interests in the name of Capital, by leasing its territories to maritime and satellite industries, it seems as though the notion of “Cyprus territory” is becoming increasingly obscured; the spaces we occupy are defined more by negotiations between governments and private entities than by law.

Throughout its history, control over Cypriot territory has been shifted by politics and military initiatives. Though existing as one country, it has seen the political presence of other nations, namely Turkey and the UK. Though Cyprus has retained sovereignty over the south, Turkish military occupies the north, where the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has been established. At the same time the UK, as Cyprus’ historical colonist, maintains two bases in separate parts of the island country. 

Although by law, Cyprus’ territorial waters and exclusive economic zone belongs to Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriots claim equal rights over them as well. Turkey, on the other hand, claims an extended economic zone for themselves. 

On the aerial level, because the UK has established military bases in Cyprus, they maintain strict policies about flying over them from a certain height. This is a restriction even for Cypriot planes. 

Meanwhile, the space above the country that is used for commercial and military flying remains untouched by foreigners, or so they think. The Ercan airport in the north creates difficulties in the control of the national airspace where it is illegally operating.  

Parallel to ongoing political disputes, satellite technology and maritime industries offer lucrative opportunities for the developing country’s economy. Over the years, Cyprus has opened its doors to big business, granting private entities rights to its land, seas, aerial space and beyond. It seems that territories today are governed not just by politics and legislations but by Capital. 

Formerly known as a tax haven for Russian oligarchs, many companies and wealthy individuals have chosen to invest in Cyprus. And because of its desirable tax legislations, even Cypriot citizenship itself has become capitalised. 

Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone has been divided into blocks; rights to exploit marine resources are granted by the government to various foreign companies in the maritime industry. 

Apart from the commodification of land and marine resources however, humans eventually discovered we could profit from outer space as well. We have built ships, trains, planes and most recently, rockets and satellites. Suddenly, outer space is the new economic frontier. 

There are certain regulations that accompany launching a satellite into space. A license is required. Currently, Cyprus holds 10 satellite licenses but has never launched a single satellite of their own. Instead, the government sells rights to foreign companies to use these licenses because of the wealth and employment opportunities Cyprus receives from allowing them to launch satellites into space.  

As they continue to occupy space and transform notions of territory, private companies are shaping a new world. One day, political borders may become a thing of the past and Cyprus may no longer belong to Cyprus.

Like I said, however, Cyprus was only a case study. The idea that Capital is transforming how we experience our national territories is relevant all over the world, especially in developing countries.

The reason I felt this project was relevant in my talk is because a similar scenario exists in the Philippines.

Example #1: The Spratly Islands

The archipelago had already proven its ownership of the Spratly Islands in 2016, yet due to certain political agendas, the destruction of corals, unethical poaching of marine life and harassment of Filipino fishermen continues. While this is happening in the West Philippine Sea, similar experiences of foreign invasion are becoming increasingly common inland as well.

There’s no doubt that foreign investments benefit the economies of developing countries, but it comes at a price. There are consequences and we need to start asking ourselves, are we ok with that?

Data Visualisation of Voluminous Territories

Due to shifting political and economic interests, Cyprus has been under divided control throughout its history and up to the present. The development of new technologies and businesses continuously offer new opportunities for Cyprus (and vice versa). As Cyprus continues to accommodate private interests in the name of Capital, by leasing its territories to maritime and satellite industries, it seems as though the notion of “Cyprus territory” is becoming increasingly obscured; the spaces we occupy are defined more by negotiations between governments and private entities than by law. All over the world, private companies are reshaping the very notion of territory.

Starting from an investigation into Cypriot, Greek and Philippine politics and the business driving political interests and the redistribution of territories, this project speculates on the notion of territorial borders through data visualisation in the form of physical models and an archive.