The Politics and Policy of Deep Sea-Bed Mining

Paul Williams, American University Washington College of Law

Abstract

1982 marked the end of the ten-year negotiation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS Convention),1 the most complex and comprehensive multilateral agreement ever negotiated. In April 1982, one-hundred and thirty countries voted in favor of the LOS Convention, seventeen abstained, and only four voted against the treaty. The United States was one of the four countries voting against the LOS Convention. Markus Schmidt's Common Heritage or Common Burden? is a comprehensive work that examines the formulation of United States foreign policy, the dynamics of international negotiations, and the United Nations treaty/decision making process.