Tenth Session of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea: Changing of the US Position (1981)

Abstract

40 years ago, the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea adopted the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982). Although the United States, together with the USSR and other major maritime powers, initiated the conference, in 1981, after Reagan became President of the United States, it called for a comprehensive review of the draft Convention that had by then been prepared. Proponents of continuing the compromise policy were removed from the US delegation at the Conference. American efforts during the 10th session of the Conference were focused on delaying negotiations and preventing the formalisation of the Convention text to prolong the work of the Conference for another year. Drawing on US Department of State documents and up-to-date academic literature, the author examines the conduct of US diplomacy during the first year of the Reagan Administration at the 3rd UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, during the preparation and work of the 10th session of the Conference (1981). He concludes that US policy at the 10th session of the Conference was in line with the general policy direction of the US Administration, which had made a definitive break with the détente policy and staked on a new aggravation of the international situation. The Administration's relationship with big business, dissatisfied with the provisions of the draft Convention regarding deep seabed mineral development beyond national jurisdictions, also appears to have been an important factor behind the change in the US position on the draft Convention.