La Instrumentalización del Derecho Internacional mediante el uso del ámbito legal: El caso de Marruecos

Ignacio Fonseca Lindez; Pablo Javier Miró Colmenárez

doi:10.31637/epsir-2024-1215

Authors

Ignacio Fonseca Lindez Saint Anthony Catholic University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5386-8589
Pablo Javier Miró Colmenárez Saint Anthony Catholic University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0929-7042

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2024-1215

Keywords:

legal domain, Instrumentalisation of the law, Hybrid Threats, Gray Zone, Legal Operations, Morocco, Spain, Sovereignty

Abstract

Introduction: This article analyzes how Morocco employs the instrumentalisation of international law, hybrid threats, and grey zone tactics to advance its geostrategic goals in its neighboring regions without resorting to force. Methodology: A case study has been used to display the way in which Morocco makes use of these strategies. Results: The article highlights the complex challenges these actions pose to contemporary international law, particularly for the Kingdom of Spain. It examines how a state actor can use various mechanisms to undermine established sovereignty and alter the status quo in international relations. Discussions: The tactics used by Morocco against Spanish territories in Africa are discussed illustrating the difficulties Spain faces in defending its sovereignty. Conclusions: Finally, the article aims to demonstrate the complexity and ambiguity of state actions that generate confusion and employ destabilization tactics, which are designed to avoid provoking a direct military response.

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Author Biographies

Ignacio Fonseca Lindez, Saint Anthony Catholic University

Graduated in Law and Political Science from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (2015), with a Master's Degree in Military Law from Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (2017). He is currently developing his doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Social, Legal and Business Sciences of the Catholic University San Antonio of Murcia. In turn, he lectures in the Master's Degree in Military Law in the International Law module. Finally, he is an official of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and has held positions of legal advisor and analyst.

Pablo Javier Miró Colmenárez, Saint Anthony Catholic University

He holds a Law degree from the Fermín Toro University of Venezuela (2007), a Master's degree in European Union Studies from UCAM (2008) and a PhD from UCAM in the Faculty of Social, Legal and Business Sciences (2017). Currently, he is secretary of the Faculty of Law at UCAM and teaches in the degrees in Law, Biotechnology and Labor Relations and Human Resources, such as Constitutional Law, Public International Law, EU Law, and Community Social Law. Likewise, he also teaches in the Master's Degree in Access to the Legal Profession and the Master's Degree in Administrative Management, as well as in the Master's Degree in Military Law.

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