An analysis of U.S. response to the United Nations Law of the Sea (LOS) treaty: major influencing factors and the impact on "developing" land-based mineral producers, 1984

Ekeman, Hillary

1984-05-01

1980-1989

This thesis is an emperical analysis of the United States response to the "mining provision" of the United Nations Law of the Sea treaty. It is aimed at unraveling the underlying factors engendering such response. The study proceeds with two basic assumptions: (1) that the U.S. response to the mining provision of the treaty and the responsiveness of her allies to her proposed "mini-treaty" threatens the passage and, therefore, the operational utility of the treaty, and (2) that the failure of the treaty presupposes an indiscriminate exploitation of the seabed mineral resources hence further damaging the economies of land based mineral producing countries. The study brings into perspective or focus the politics of "national interest" as it manifests itself in the inter-national arena even with little or no regards to international law. It concludes that the economic factor was paramount in the U.S. response to the treaty given her industrial dependence on mineral imports, rather than the reasons advanced by the United States, one of which is that: "the treaty demands a mandatory transfer of private technology and the possibility of national liberation movements sharing in its benefits." In addition, the study concludes that land-based mineral producers will be disadvantaged in the absence of a law regulating seabed mineral exploitation in the international waters.

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application/pdf

thesis

Master of Arts (MA)

Atlanta University

Department of Political Science

Ku-Ntima, Makidi

Clark Atlanta University

Georgia--Atlanta

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:1984_ekeman_hillary.pdf

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/