Balancing U.S. Interests in the UN Law of the Sea Convention
Author(s): Raphael Sagarin, Larry Crowder, Megan Dawson, Jon Van Dyke and Michael Orbach
Published: October 2007
download: policy brief (.pdf) >
The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions has gathered leading experts on the UN Law of the Sea Convention to provide guidance in the ongoing debate over whether the U.S. should accede to the Convention. Rather than provide a complete summary of the Convention's provisions, we highlight in this short paper three important considerations:
First, emerging territorial disputes over expanding Arctic waters, most recently highlighted by e orts by Russia to establish claims to mineral resources under the North Pole, will be resolved within the Convention framework by Convention signatories.
Second, concerns about the role of international tribunals in making decisions that a ect U.S. military, economic and environmental protection interests have been addressed through changes made at the request of the United States.
Third, the United States would benefit from Convention provisions which help member nations balance the need to navigate freely for security and commerce with its need to protect its vast coastal natural resources.
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