The Struggle for Law in the Oceans : How an Isolationist Narrative Betrays America

During the 1970s and 1980s the United States led the world in negotiating one of the most important treaties in history, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Through these negotiations the United States secured the largest area of maritime jurisdiction in the world-an area larger than the continental United States itself-and protected navigational freedom, so critical for Naval mobility. The United States was also recognized as having access to four deep seabed mine sites, each roughly the size of the State of Rhode Island, and each containing approximately a quarter trillion dollars in strategic minerals. Today UNCLOS is in force for 168 countries and the European Union. Isolationist arguments, however, have for a quarter-century prevented the Senate from voting on the Convention. This book is about the potential damage to American national interests caused by this isolationist narrative. It discusses the robust reasons favoring the Convention, and offers a sharp critical examination of the arguments still being made against it. John Norton Moore posits that isolationist obstruction has cost the United States two deep seabed mine sites, "USA-2" and "USA-3," for a loss of a half trillion dollars in strategic minerals, and shows how a continuation of this narrative threatens the loss of "USA-1" and "USA-4" for another half trillion dollars-all while China has acquired four deep seabed sites and the Russian Federation three. In this ground-breaking, and vigorously argued new work, Moore asserts that it is time to accede to the Convention, as has been urged for decades by Presidents from both sides of the political divide. Cover Page Half Title Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Prologue Part 1 America's Treaty Win 1. The UNCLOS Treaty and Its Negotiation 2. A Summary of Treaty Benefits 3. A Summary of Costs from Non-​Accession 4. Protecting and Enhancing American Sovereignty 5. Protecting and Enhancing American Security 6. Protecting and Enhancing American Business, Jobs, and Tax Revenues 7. Protecting and Enhancing American Oceans Leadership—​Managing Change in a Thawing Arctic and Conflict in the South and East China Seas as Critical Examples Managing Change in a Thawing Arctic Managing Conflict in the South and East China Seas Part II The Isolationist Narrative 8. Arguments Against the UNCLOS Treaty Are False or Misleading Principal Opposition Arguments Sovereignty Security Dispute Resolution Deep Seabed Mining Royalty Payments under Article 82 in Exchange for the Extended Shelf The UNCLOS Treaty Is Not an Arm of the United Nations Customary Law Is Not Enough The 1958 Geneva Conventions Are Not Enough America Cannot Shoot Its Way to Oceans Law The False Bilateral Utopia The Fallacy that the Convention Is Simply a Third World Scheme The Fallacy That Ronald Reagan Would Have Opposed the UNCLOS Treaty After the 1994 Renegotiation Met All of His Conditions for United States Support The Fallacy that Republicans or Conservatives Are United in Opposition to the UNCLOS Treaty The “Always the Law” Fallacy 9. A Compendium of Specific Examples of False or Misleading Arguments Made Against the UNCLOS Treaty Part III Reclaiming America's Win: The Way Forward 10. The Opponents Show Their Colors and America Loses Non-​Accession Will Not Serve the Principal Arguments Made by the Opponents Even Were Opponents’ Arguments Correct, the Greater Benefits to the Nation Would Strongly Support Accession Risks of Adherence Are Minuscule: The United States Can Always Withdraw 11. The Senate Resolution of Advice and Consent Possible Addition to the Senate Resolution Text of a Possible Addition 12. Restoring Reason in American Foreign Policy Postscript Acknowledgments About the Author Illustrations Appendices Index "America is the most prosperous nation in the world, with a strong military, abundant natural resources, innovative and industrious people, wonderful neighbors in Canada and Mexico, and formidable natural borders in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans. America is also founded upon a strong democracy dating back to the Founding Fathers. But from time to time, America has had a propensity for self-inflicted wounds. This book is about one such self-inflicted-and still festering-wound. That is the failure to take advantage of one of the most remarkable negotiating wins in the history of the nation; the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)"-- Provided by publisher The Struggle for Law in the Oceans argues that by following a misleading isolationist narrative and not acceding to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the United States has harmed and continues to harm its interests. The book makes a compelling case for acceding to UNCLOS at the earliest opportunity.