UNCLOS is a remarkable achievement of international law
UNCLOS is, in many respects, an amazing treaty. Hailed as "possibly the most significant legal instrument of [the twentieth] century,"UNCLOS strikes a delicate balance between freedom of navigation and utilization of the oceans on the one hand, and on the other, sovereign rights and control over the ocean and its resources.1 It solves long-standing issues that had proved to be intractable (e.g., the allowable breadth of the territorial sea) and creates new legal regimes to reflect evolving state practice (such as the exclusive economic zone). Against a backdrop of overweening national self-interest, it achieves a remarkable degree of consensus and compromise in areas that significantly impact national sovereignty and sovereign rights, particularly over resources-matters that have historically caused nations to go to, or threaten, war.2
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- Ratifying UNCLOS key to advancing numerous U.S. interests
- Multiple advantages for U.S. from ratification of UNCLOS
- U.S. has most interest in protections, both for environmental and security reasons, provided by convention for restricting activity within its EEZ
- U.S. has significant strategic and commercial interests in ensuring that provisions of convention are fully implemented into domestic law
- UNCLOS is a remarkable achievement of international law
Supporting Arguments:- Consensus of experts advocate for U.S. ratification of UNCLOS
- U.S. ratification of UNCLOS best way to preserve freedom of navigation rights
- U.S. ratification of UNCLOS would benefit marine conservation efforts
- U.S. ratification of UNCLOS would boost U.S. global leadership
- UNCLOS treaty helps establish needed rule of law and governance regime for oceans
- U.S. ratification of UNCLOS key to a number of maritime industries
- UNCLOS necessary to protect rights of marine researchers
- Ratification of UNCLOS is in U.S. national security interests
- Model of UNCLOS useful for governance of other global commons
- UNCLOS has empirically been successful
- U.S. ratification of UNCLOS would help resolve disputes with Russia in Arctic
- U.S. ratification of UNCLOS would help moderate rising Chinese naval power
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