| Summary/Abstract |
On April 5, 2018 Saudi Arabia announced the Salwa Canal project to inaugurate a new generation of shipping canals that has nothing to do with advancing maritime navigation, but rather for changing Qatar's geography and isolating it. If executed as planned, the Salwa Canal would be built completely on Saudi territory 1 km from its border with the Qatar peninsula. The latter would see its only land border disappear and turn the State of Qatar into an island State. The following questions arise: insofar as international law is concerned, would Saudi Arabia be within its rights to execute this project? Would Qatar have a legal case in international forums to halt the project on grounds that its geography would be adversely impacted? On another level, would Qatar, as the injured State, be able to refer the matter to the International Court of Justice to discuss possible environmental damage? What impacts does this project, if executed, have on other possible cases such as Malaysia, should Thailand decide to construct a canal that would connect the province of Satun with the gulf of Thailand and Songkhla province to directly access the Strait of Malacca, or on the claimed city of Gibraltar, if Spain decides to connect the Bay of Algeciras with the Alboran Sea via a sea canal? This article attempts to shed some light on such novel matters in light of the Salwa Canal project and its legal impacts under international law.
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