The UAE is at the heart of the global economy that relies on the free movement of goods. The UAE’s ports are an integral part of the maritime network that moves more than 90 per cent of all global trade. Almost nine billion tonnes of goods are carried every year by ships that link all the world’s trading nations.
It is, therefore, vital that the laws underpinning the security of this essential part of the modern world are fully endorsed. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) regulates national rights over coastal waters, but also creates the framework for the free movement of goods on the high seas.
Uniquely among the world’s major nations, the United States has refused to sign the Law of the Sea. It is partnered in its rejection of this essential law by Eritrea, Israel, Peru, Syria, Turkey and Venezuela, and nine landlocked states. The Law of the Sea has repeatedly come in front of the Senate for ratification, but has consistently failed. The danger is that while the US ties itself up in foolish isolationism, the Chinese are taking a predatory interest in controlling the crucial Asian maritime trade routes through the South China Sea, East China Sea and Sea of Japan, and maybe the Malacca Straits as well. Beijing has observed that Washington has ignored the framework of international law when it suits its own interests, and it’s therefore ready to do the same and simply enforce its will on the international trade routes. As part of its pivot to Asia plan, the US must ratify the Law of the Sea and endorse the rule of law.
