Stress Testing the Law of the Sea

Book excerpt: In Stress Testing the Law of the Sea: Dispute Resolution, Disasters & Emerging Challenges, edited by Stephen Minas and H. Jordan Diamond, leading practitioners and scholars of the law of the sea examine key developments that are placing pressure on the current legal framework. Following an expert preface setting the historical context for the discussion, Part I explores the changing norms of marine dispute resolution – long the foundation of the UNCLOS framework – in an era when the lines between private and public governance are continually shifting and following the landmark South China Sea arbitration. Part II explores emerging issues whose inherent levels of uncertainty challenge the structure of the framework, including climate change, disasters, and expanding energy exploration.