Common Heritage or Common Burden?: The United States Position on the Development of a Regime for Deep Sea-bed Mining in the Law of the Sea Convention

Common Heritage or Common Burden? contains a comprehensive and authoritative assessment of the US role in the negotiations on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and particularly in the negotiations on one of the remaining commons, the ocean floor beyond national jurisdiction. The author first examines the US view of the lawfulness of deep seabed mining under international law. He reviews the bureaucratic struggles, within the US Administration and the Congress, concerning the options to be pursued at the Conference; analyses the US position in the seabed negotiations from 1974 to 1980; and casts a fresh look both on the Reagan Administration's `policy review' of 1981-1982 which threatened the Conference's outcome, and current US oceans policy which remains an impediment to the Convention's early entry into force. The study suggests that despite significant compromises negotiated between the US and developing countries at the Conference up to 1980, the emerging seabed regime was not as widely endorsed by US officials as is generally assumed. Drawing on material collected from interviews with many key negotiators, the study contributes to a better understanding of domestic and international decision-making procedures and the dynamics of international negotiations.

Table of Contents:
An outline of the problem; the build-up to UNCLOS, Pardo's common heritage proposal, and the United States view on the lawfulness of deep sea-bed mining; dilemmas of United States domestic sea-bed politics; towards domestic sea-bed legislation; the United States position in Committee One at UNCLOS - the negotiation of the system of exploitation, the production policy debate; the Reagan administration's policy review; the Reagan administrtion's law of the sea policy, 1982-1987.

Review :
`A comprehensive and authoritative assessment of the United States role in the negotiations on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.' IMM Abstracts `fascinating ... an authoritve account of relationships within the delegation, between it and Washington and of the impact of American policy on the Convention' Alan Archer, International Relations `an excellent account of those parts of the United Nations Law of the Sea Conference ... concerned with deep sea-bed mining' IMM Minerals Industry International `The book seems to be the best study ever written on the deep sea-bed regime in the context of international law and international relaltions, and will certainly prove to be a valuable guide for both scholars and practitioners dealing with ocean affairs and the law of the sea.' Dr Barbara Kwiatkowska, Associate Director, Netherlands Institute for the Law of the Sea, Netherlands International Law Review, No. 2 1990 `The book is thorough. It is, moreover, unique not merely because of the author's great initiative and industry in securing his many interviews, but also because it is the only account of the development of the deep sea-bed mining regime from its early stages to the present which emphasises the particular role of the key country, the United States ... this is certainly a book which I would recommend.' Glen Plant, International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Vol.40, January 1991 `Based as it is upon an impressive number of interviews with key participants from within the U.S. and the Conference, this book provides unique insights into the background of United States' policy, its formulation and the mechanics of the negotiations. It achieves the author's aims of producing "a study in International Relations".' Malcolm D. Evans, University of Bristol, Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly `his work can be of particular interest to international lawyers and practitioners alike in understanding the sea-bed regime established by the Law of the Sea Convention ... The book is based on extensive research, including accurate information obtained from interviews with most of the Law of the Sea key negotiators. It is a timely account of sea-bed negotiations and a welcome contribution to the wealth of existing literature on the subject.' Dr Jamal Seifi, International Journal of Estuarine and Coastal Law `The book is based on extensive research, including accurate information obtained from interviews with most of the Law of the Sea key negotiators. It is a timely account of sea-bed negotiations and a welcome contribution to the wealth of existing literature on the subject.' International Journal of Estriarine & Coastal Law `full and illuminating ... it has much to offer international lawyers ... the book should find a place in any collection on international law of the sea which purports to be comprehensive.' Gillian White, The British Year Book of International Law 1991 `'The attempt made in the book to discuss a few schools of thought as models should facilitate any attempt to understand sea-bed politics...The book does well to highlight the domestic political and legal scenarios before going on to discuss the role of the United States in the actual negotiations...The author fills the information vacuum that obtains with the help of interviews of many of those who participated in the negotiations...The importance of the present book lies in its coverage of US policy on the development of the law of the sea in the post-UNCLOS period as well.'' International Studies