Beyond the Law of the Sea

The 1982 U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea took over a decade to produce and was the final result of the largest single international negotiating process undertaken before or since that time. As the world's leading maritime nation, the U.S. has vital, immediate, national interests in the Convention and in the continuing refinement of maritime law based upon the tenets of that comprehensive document. The present work describes in detail the concurrent development of international law and the law of the sea, the complex negotiating process that resulted in the completed Convention, the role of the U.S. both during the Law of the Sea Convention and during the decade of negotiation that finally made the Convention acceptable, and policy directions and issues for the U.S. in the post-Convention environment. This is an important new text in international law, international relations, and maritime affairs.

"For many government officials and academics outside the United States like me, it is not easy to find a book so comprehensive and narrative on the development of the United States policy on the Law of the Sea covering the last four decades. There have been plenty of studies on numerous topics in the United States literatures on the Law of the Sea, but Galdorisi's and Vienna's study was perhaps one of the most comprehensive and thorough, covering practically all the topics that were or are of interests to the United States. It is, simply speaking, a book that must be studies by everyone, particularly by foreigners, in order to understand the United States perspectives."-Dr. Hasjim Djalal, Professor Ambassador-at-Large for the Law of the Sea and Maritime Affairs Memeber of Indonesian National Maritime Council, "The special value in this fine book...lies in [the authors'] sea-level perspective. Unlike the numerous academics, diplomats and pundits who comprise the large majority of those who have publicly engaged in the great debate on the United States' relationship to the 'new international ocean regime, ' these sea-going naval officers give readers the view from the bridge, where the recent revolution in the legal framework for oceanic activities has an everyday real life impact."-Jon L. Jacobson Editor-in-Chief Ocean Development and International Law: The Journal of Maritime Affairs, "This book combines, in a balanced way, the views of law, history, and policy as they relate to the law of the sea in general, and to the United States participation in this area in particular. This interdisciplinary approach adds depth and detail to the subject and frames the subject superbly for the academic, the policy maker, the researcher, or the practitioner....Beyond the Law of the Sea: New Directions for U.S. Oceans Policy is a critical link in the continuum of the scholarship on the law of the sea. No other work combines the depth of research, focused analysis, and clarity of presentation that this book does. Policy makers, policy analysts, and mariners will all find this book equally valuable."-William L. Schachte, Jr. Rear Admiral, JAGC United States Navy (Retired), "This book reaches beyond and behind the bland legal construction of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to reveal its close linkage to the practical uses of the sea by maritime nations....In this well researched and closely reasoned book, Captains Galdorisi and Vienna take the reader on a fascinating journey of discovery of the imperatives of ocean policy for the world's leading maritime power."-Scott Allen, Ph.D Associate Director, Law of the Sea Institute, 1977-1997, "This is an excellent book by two outstanding and knowledgeable Naval experts on modern United States oceans interests. It is particularly good in detailing the ongoing struggle for navigational freedom, the real Common Heritage of Mankind."-John Norton Moore Walter L. Brown Professor of Law & Director, the Center for Oceans Law & Policy

CAPTAIN GEORGE V. GALDORISI is Chief of Staff in U.S. Navy's Cruiser Destroyer Group 3. He holds degrees from the United States Naval Academy, the Naval Postgraduate School, the University of San Diego, and the Naval War College.CAPTAIN KEVIN R. VIENNA is with the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corps. He holds degrees from the United States Naval Academy, the College of William and Mary, the University of Southern California, and the University of Virginia.