Announcements

Journal of Special Jurisdictions, Volume 1, Issue VII (2026)

Call for Papers Issue VII

Special Jurisdictions as Geopolitical Solutions

We are pleased to announce the seventh issue of the Journal of Special Jurisdictions, which will focus on a rapidly emerging—and still under-examined—frontier in governance innovation: the use of special jurisdictions as tools of stability in fragile and contested regions.

In an era defined by geopolitical fragmentation, regime uncertainty, and post-conflict reconstruction, Special Economic Zones and related jurisdictional arrangements are increasingly being proposed not only as engines of economic growth, but also as mechanisms for institutional credibility, reconstruction, and durable peace.

These discussions have appeared in proposals and policy debates concerning regions such as Gaza, Ukraine, Palestine, Northern Syria, Afghanistan, Somaliland, Kosovo, Venezuela, and Colombia, as well as in otherwise stable settings such as Denmark. Across the world, policymakers and stakeholders are exploring whether special jurisdictions can serve as structured environments for investment, administration, and service delivery when national systems are weakened by conflict, polarization, sanctions, or contested sovereignty.

About the Journal

Founded in 2019, the Journal of Special Jurisdictions is the only peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to Special Economic Zones, Startup Societies, and alternative forms of governance. It publishes high-quality research on the legal, political, economic, and technological aspects of special jurisdictions worldwide.

Topic Overview: Zones, Credibility, and Governance Under Constraint

This special issue invites rigorous, comparative, and analytically grounded scholarship examining how special jurisdictions operate in complex, high-constraint environments. Proposals for reconstruction-focused economic zones in Ukraine and Palestine, debates around legal-stability mechanisms under regime uncertainty, and renewed attention to externally supported or internationally anchored zone models raise fundamental questions:

When do special jurisdictions generate institutional credibility and reduce risk, and when do they undermine it? How do zone designs affect sovereignty, legitimacy, and political sustainability? Under what conditions do special jurisdictions support stabilization and reconstruction, and when do they instead entrench dependency or advance external interests?

Submissions may be conceptual or applied and may examine both implemented zones and proposed governance arrangements in contested territories, sanctioned regions, unstable regimes, or settings with significant external involvement.

We especially encourage work that bridges theory and practice and draws on perspectives from law, political science, economics, international relations, development studies, geopolitics, security studies, public administration, and complex systems. Contributions that move beyond viewing zones purely as economic incentives—and instead analyze them as institutional mechanisms for governance, legal stability, arbitration, administrative capacity, reconstruction finance, infrastructure delivery, and trust-building—are particularly welcome.

Suggested Topics Include (but are not limited to):

• Post-conflict reconstruction zones: jurisdictional design, sequencing, and the political economy of reconstruction in contexts such as Ukraine, Palestine, and Colombia.

• Legal stability mechanisms: how special jurisdictions seek to de-risk investment and contractual relationships under regime uncertainty, including stabilization clauses, long-term guarantees, arbitration frameworks, and predictable administrative systems.

• Foreign law, arbitration, and external guarantees: conditions under which imported legal frameworks or external dispute resolution mechanisms enhance governance capacity, and when they raise concerns regarding legitimacy, sovereignty, or accountability.

• Zones as interfaces between domestic and international legal orders: interactions with investment treaties, donor frameworks, international financial institutions, and cross-border governance arrangements.

• Legitimacy, consent, and political sustainability: foreign involvement, sovereignty concerns, public trust, local participation, and the factors that shape political acceptance or backlash against zone-based governance models.

• Zones under sanctions and geopolitical pressure: compliance challenges, economic corridors, and the evolution of zone governance under geopolitical constraints.

• Comparative case studies: similarities and differences across contested regions, fragile states, and stable democracies experimenting with special jurisdictions.

• Comparative and historical perspectives: cross-case analysis and historical precedents—including free ports, mandates, and special administrative regimes—relevant to contemporary zone proposals.

Submission Guidelines

• Full Paper Submission Deadline: May 31, 2026.

• Languages: English or Spanish.

• Submission Platform: Author’s section of the Journal of Special Jurisdictions website.

• Length Requirement: 6,000–12,000 words (excluding references and appendices).

• Citation Style: American Psychological Association (APA), 7th edition.

• Review Process: Double-blind peer review.

• Publication: Accepted papers will appear in the 2026 issue of the Journal of Special Jurisdictions.

Editorial Team

https://journalofspecialjurisdictions.com/index.php/jsj/about/editorialTeam

For further details, visit our website or contact us.
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