The Poseidon Project
The Struggle to Govern the World's Oceans
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- £15.99
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- £15.99
Publisher Description
A vibrant exploration of past and present controversies surrounding control of the world's oceans.
In 1609, the Dutch lawyer Hugo Grotius rejected the idea that even powerful rulers could own the oceans. "A ship sailing through the sea," he wrote, "leaves behind it no more legal right than it does a track." A philosophical and legal battle ensued, but Grotius's view ultimately prevailed. To this day, "freedom of the seas" remains an important legal principle and a powerful rhetorical tool.
Yet in recent decades, freedom of the seas has eroded in multiple ways and for a variety of reasons. During the world wars of the 20th century, combatants imposed unprecedented restrictions on maritime commerce, leaving international rules in tatters. National governments have steadily expanded their reach into the oceans. More recently, environmental concerns have led to new international restrictions on high seas fishing. Today's most dangerous maritime disputes-including China's push for control of the South China Sea-are occurring against the backdrop of major changes in the way the world treats the oceans.
As David Bosco shows in The Poseidon Project, the history of humanity's attempt to create rules for the oceans is alive and relevant. Tracing the roots of the law of the sea and the background to current maritime disputes, he shows that building effective ocean rules while preserving maritime freedoms remains a daunting task. Bosco analyzes how fragile international institutions and determined activists are struggling for relevance in a world still dominated by national governments. As maritime tensions develop, The Poseidon Project will serve as an essential guide to the continuing challenge of ocean governance.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Bosco (Rough Justice) surveys the long history of maritime governance in this comprehensive if dry account. He centers his exploration on the ocean policy articulated by Dutch legal scholar Hugo Grotius in 1609, which insisted "the seas cannot be owned the way land can" and served as a key legal theory cited well into the 20th century. From the British Navy serving as the self-appointed "firm custodian of ocean freedom" in the 19th century to the era of container shipping, which revolutionized global trade in the 1950s—as well as the rise of such concerns as climate change and piracy through the 1990s—ocean policy grew more complex. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Bosco writes, marked a culminating effort: a "constitution for the oceans," it established a framework for ocean governance and went into effect in 1995 after years of debate (it was created in 1982). Bosco analyzes his material effectively, but his scholarly approach and focus on ideas rather than individuals make this something of a slog for nonspecialist readers. Policy makers will find this worth a look, but armchair navigators will have trouble finding their sea legs.
