2008 Woodie Awards
Oh, Say Can You Sea?
Congress considering ratification of UN convention
Kris DeRego
Issue date: 1/17/08 Section: Commentary
These days, the United Nations doesn't make headlines unless it's undermining American hegemony. Since the United States is the UN's biggest sugar daddy, however, that doesn't happen very often. Imagine my surprise, then, at the recent explosion of media coverage devoted to a longstanding treaty that was crafted at a United Nations conference held over a quarter-century ago.
That's right, I'm talking about the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which has generated significant controversy in recent weeks due to the newfound traction it has gained on Capitol Hill. Established in 1982, the LOSC (or LOST, if you're a naysayer) was the culmination of a nine-year struggle to create a unified legal framework governing the exploitation of the world's oceans.
In fact, the United Nations had been attempting to foster international cooperation on seafaring governance since 1958, when the world body convened the first UN Conference on the Law of the Sea. Though the gathering was successful in adopting several conventions on oceanographic rights and conservation, it failed to resolve several contentious issues in maritime law, such as the breadth of the territorial sea and regulation of the deep seabed's exploitable resources. It was only with the third such conference, which began in 1973, that the possibility of a single, comprehensive treaty became the subject of serious diplomatic negotiation.
Essentially, the LOSC defines the rights and responsibilities of seafaring nations in their use of the world's oceans. While addressing the topics covered by the 1958 conventions, the LOSC also attempts to resolve legal discrepancies that were exposed in later years and have prevented many of the world's economic powers from granting their consent. Specifically, the LOSC establishes the boundaries of a coastal nation's maritime zones, each of which are measured from a carefully demarcated "baseline" that distinguishes between a country's international and external waters.
That's right, I'm talking about the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which has generated significant controversy in recent weeks due to the newfound traction it has gained on Capitol Hill. Established in 1982, the LOSC (or LOST, if you're a naysayer) was the culmination of a nine-year struggle to create a unified legal framework governing the exploitation of the world's oceans.
In fact, the United Nations had been attempting to foster international cooperation on seafaring governance since 1958, when the world body convened the first UN Conference on the Law of the Sea. Though the gathering was successful in adopting several conventions on oceanographic rights and conservation, it failed to resolve several contentious issues in maritime law, such as the breadth of the territorial sea and regulation of the deep seabed's exploitable resources. It was only with the third such conference, which began in 1973, that the possibility of a single, comprehensive treaty became the subject of serious diplomatic negotiation.
Essentially, the LOSC defines the rights and responsibilities of seafaring nations in their use of the world's oceans. While addressing the topics covered by the 1958 conventions, the LOSC also attempts to resolve legal discrepancies that were exposed in later years and have prevented many of the world's economic powers from granting their consent. Specifically, the LOSC establishes the boundaries of a coastal nation's maritime zones, each of which are measured from a carefully demarcated "baseline" that distinguishes between a country's international and external waters.
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