Consensus of experts is that U.S. Ratification of UNCLOS would do more to boost credibility and effectiveness of PSI than not

This article concludes that U.S. accession to UNCLOS would not adversely affect the implementation and effectiveness of the PSI. On the contrary, U.S. accession to UNCLOS could help increase the U.S. credibility and leadership in dealing with the threat to inter- national peace and security posed by WMD proliferation. On August 31, 2005, Admiral James Watkins (retired) and Leon Panetta, chairs of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and Pew Oceans Commission respectively, along with over 70 other national leaders and top ocean law and policy experts, sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist, calling on the Senate to move expeditiously to consider and approve U.S. accession to UNCLOS.²¹⁹ The signatories to the letter agreed with President Bush that accession to the UNCLOS supports vital U.S. national security, economic, and international leadership interests. They also stated that accession to the Convention will strengthen the U.S. ability to defend its important maritime rights, in particular, freedom of navigation and overflight, which are essential to U.S. military mobility, and will enhance U.S. national and homeland security efforts. This call is consistent with this article’s argument that accession to the UNCLOS will not hurt U.S. security interests in pursuing the goals of the PSI, but instead will enhance them.