It seems straightforward enough: something is either on this side of the boundary, or on the other. The entire value of boundaries stems from the fact that there is no in- between, no middle ground – boundaries are the best tool for creating juridical certainty. In international law, boundaries exist as "pre- given political knowledge", and much of international lawyers’ work is to make note of boundaries, and divide powers and issues between states in a similarly straightforward, either-or fashion. In fact, the debate over the proper scope of territorial and extraterritorial jurisdiction depends on this preliminary distinction between an
act, person, or object that is on one side of the boundary, and an act, person, or object that is on the other side of the boundary. This chapter aims to show how maddeningly uncertain this preliminary distinction really is, and with it how the entire basis for evaluating extraterritoriality collapses.