U.S. Navy's freedom of navigation is continually challenged by excessive claims
U.S. Naval forces are continually challenged by more than 100 illegal, excessive claims around the globe that adversely affect vital navigational and over-flight rights and freedoms. Accession to UNCLOS would give the U.S. Navy more tools to help rollback these violations.
Quicktabs: Arguments
Myth: U.S. adherence to the convention is not necessary because navigational freedoms are not threatened (and the only guarantee of free passage on the seas is the power of the U.S. Navy). Wrong--it is not true that our navigational freedoms are not threatened. There are more than 100 illegal, excessive claims around the globe that adversely affect vital navigational and over-flight rights and freedoms. The United States has utilized diplomatic and operational challenges to resist excessive maritime claims by other countries that interfere with U.S. navigational rights as reflected in the convention. On occasion, these operations have entailed a certain amount of risk (e.g., the Black Sea bumping incident with the former Soviet Union in 1988). Being a party to the convention would significantly enhance our efforts to roll back these claims by, among other things, putting the United States in a far stronger position to assert its rights, thus affording additional methods of resolving conflict and aligning expectations of behavior at sea.
Coastal states can also be expected to want more control of their off-shore waters and airspace for domestic security reasons.67 "Military Activities in the Exclusive Economic Zone: Preventing Uncertainty and Defusing Conflict ." California Western International Law Journal. Vol. 32. (2001-2001): 253-302. [ More (4 quotes) ] As technology advances, coastal states can reasonably be expected to seek a legal regime that makes it more difficult for foreign militaries to exploit advancements in the range and accuracy of weapons and intelligence-gathering inherent in manned and unmanned aerial, surface, and underwater vehicles, as well as over-the-horizon weaponry and specialized littoral platforms.
Moreover, the nature of threats such as terrorism; weapons of mass destruction; and arms, drugs, and human-trafficking encourage coastal states to extend surveillance and control beyond their territorial seas and in some cases even into others’ EEZs.68 In the aftermath of September 11, many nations, including the U.S., have increased surveillance of their coastal areas.69
To varying degrees and through various methods, coastal states have objected to military activities in their respective EEZs through the years. Whatever their historical weaknesses and current political rivalries, coastal states continue to share important interests and continue to face what Professor Bernard Oxman calls the “territorial temptation” to expand control over their off-shore waters.70
Moreover, numerous states question the United States’ very right to enforce navigational freedoms conferred by the Convention when it is not party to it. It is likely that U.S. accession would decrease the number of state claims inconsistent with international law and also decrease the number of freedom of navigation challenges the Navy would have to conduct.
The global demands on the Navy and Coast Guard come at a time when the size of the nation’s Fleets has shrunk to unprecedented low levels. As fewer and fewer U.S. ships are available to support U.S. and coalition interests worldwide, it is more imperative than ever that these ships be able to exercise the rights of innocent passage, transit passage, and archipelagic sea lanes passage without asking prior permission or providing prior notification to coastal states. Equally important is the right of warships to operate freely and conduct military activities in the exclusive economic zones of all nations. These are rights that are being increasingly challenged by coastal nations.