73 



Resource Authority to manage the resources, safeguard the invest- 

 ments, and settle conflicts and disputes. During the 25th session of the 

 United Nations General Assembly, these principles were considered, 

 culminating in the passage on December 1, 1970, of two resolutions, 

 one establishing a time and calling for convening in 1973 a new 

 conference on the law of the sea. The other adopted a set of principles 

 in a declaration setting forth the ground rules for ocean resources 

 management and scientific research. 



It is too early to predict what success the U.S. proposal will achieve. 

 Even if the United Nations succeeds in framing a generally ac- 

 ceptable treaty for the seabed, the final decision in the ITnited States 

 will be subject to approval by the Senate. As mentioned earlier, con- 

 siderable opposition has been voiced in Congress, and some alternative 

 plan may be necessary in the event of an impasse between the execu- 

 tive and legislative branches of Government. What form^ this alterna- 

 tive might take is difficult to conjecture at this time. 



Wliiat the proposal, resolutions, and discussions left unresolved was 

 the limit of national jurisdiction. The United States came to look fav- 

 orably on the 12-mile territorial limit as a probable goal, and several 

 nations appeared receptive to the idea. The Latin American nations 

 clung to their 200-mile limits, and agreements on these limits in future 

 debate may prove hard to reach. 



IX. Role of Sceenoe and Technology in Seabed Diplomacy 



As science and technology have reached and affected remote regions 

 of the world, scientists and engineers have begun to play an increas- 

 ingly significant role in diplomacy. Long the purview of international 

 lawyers and diplomats, ocean sovereigiity has been discovered to 

 possess important technical aspects as well. In the field of ocean- 

 ography, the jurisdictional solutions to man's problems have been essen- 

 tially an attempt to reconcile man-made laws with the laws of 

 nature. Oftentimes, these two sets of laws have proved incompatible, 

 and the need for knowing and imderstanding the scientific aspects 

 of the ocean environment has become an obvious prerequisite for suc- 

 cessful jurisdiction among nations. 



Understanding of all aspects of the marine enviromnent has also 

 been a major requirement for the proper conduct of naval operations. 

 These operations figure prominently in matters of national security 

 and the formulation of foreign policy, particularly where global com- 

 mitments are concerned. Since World War II, the outlook toward the 

 use of the oceans for military purposes has assumed progressively 

 larger dimensions. Military strategy has evolved along lines deter- 

 mined largely by developments in technology, and by policy goals for 

 intei^l security and global politics. As one analyst observed : 



If asked, an oceanic strategist would tell the President that in order to pur- 

 sue his policy of nuclear sufficiency and at the same time deter World War III. 

 a blue water oceanic option is the only option for deterrence or defense during 

 the next six years and in the first decades of our Nation's third century.^" 



Military Technology and Ocean Strategy 



The days of bombers and strategic air strikes followed the develop- 

 ment of nuclear fusion in 1954, coupled with the threat of communist 



^George E. Lowe, "The only option?" U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings (April 1971), 

 page 23. 



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