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Law of the S.E.A.

U.S. accession and ratification would result in isolation and a decline in future cooperation with those remaining maritime countries that have maintained disputes over UNCLOS and chose not to accept...

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Scarborough Fair

While no longer making regular headlines, the stand-off over the Scarborough Shoal/Panatag Shoal/Huangyan Island continues. Since April 10th both China and the Philippines have maintained a presence in...

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Who Would Benefit Most from Seasteading?

  At its core, seasteading is designed as an alternative to existing nation-states. Its proponents understand, however, that for the foreseeable future seasteading must operate within existing legal...

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Sea-Based Nations and Sovereignty: What Makes a Nation-state?

To me, one of the more interesting assertions made by Randy Henrickson in his CIMSEC interview was this: “To avoid legally being a pirate, seasteads will have to flag themselves with the flag of an...

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Wrapping Up Sea-based Nation Week

  I started out the week with a few of my own thoughts and an interview with Randy Hencken, Executive Director of the Seasteading Institute, who was gracious enough to reach out and participate in our...

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MFP 9: Final Predictions For The Future

Any final predictions? This is the ninth and final regular post in our Maritime Futures Project.  For more information on the contributors, click here.  Note: The opinions and views expressed in these...

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NATO in the Arctic?

By Andrew Chisholm Canada’s recent assumption of the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council prompted much discussion of Arctic issues, including security, an important element of which is the ongoing...

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Tribunal Selected in Philippines Case Against China

The Philippines case against China's maritime claims is moving forward. The Philippines on Jan. 22nd asked the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), to declare invalid China's claims...

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Choosing Sides or Choosing Peace? U.S. Strategy in the South China Sea Dispute

The National Interest on Monday published an intriguing article by Ted Galen Carpenter discussing the potential implications of President Obama’s current South China Sea (SCS) strategy.  During the...

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Notes From the North: Canada and Russia Bolster their Arctic Ambitions

With a cold chill blowing through DC, it seems fitting to note several recent Arctic developments.

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The “Mighty Moo” Maneuvers Around Trouble

The recent near-collision of a PLA Navy tank landing ship and the missile-guided cruiser USS Cowpens in the South China Sea represents yet another incident in a long line of instances of Chinese...

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China’s Nine-Dashed Line Faces Renewed Assault

By Scott Cheney-Peters China’s ambiguous claim to the South China Sea, approximately demarcated by a series of hash marks known as the “nine-dashed line,” faced objections from an expanding number of...

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Toward a Harmonious Pacific through China-led, Confucian-based Maritime Law

What goals should the United States seek in the South China Sea?  Trying to preserve the status quo – hoping that each country be ever content with its historic resources and territory – is simply...

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Piracy 2.0 : The Net-Centric Evolution

By Brian Evans Network-Centric Warfare derives its power from the strong networking of a well-informed but geographically dispersed force. – VADM Arthur Cebrowski, Proceedings 1998 Almost twenty years...

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Changing EEZs

An interesting discussion took place in the Boston Globe about how to deal with potential changes in the world’s Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) as rising sea levels change the shape of land areas,...

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Gibraltar: Legal Advice on Innocent Passage

CIMSEC content is and always will be free; consider a voluntary monthly donation to offset our operational costs. As always, it is your support and patronage that have allowed us to build this...

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The Nine Ironies of the South China Sea Mess

This article by Dr. James Kraska was originally published at The Diplomat.  It is republished here with the author’s permission. Since 2009, when China asked the secretary-general of the United Nations...

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South China Sea: International Arbitration moves forward as PAC rules on...

By Alex Calvo Introduction: the Philippines’ International Arbitration Case moves Forward Despite Beijing’s refusal to take part in the proceedings, on 29 October the Court of Permanent Arbitration...

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Russia in the Arctic: aggressive or cooperative?

Russia Resurgent Topic Week By Laguerre Corentin Since the early 2000s, Russia has begun to pay more attention to the Arctic when its general socioeconomic situation had improved.1 With the ice...

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Yours, Mine, and Moscow’s: Breaking Down Russia’s Latest Arctic Claims

This article originally featured on CIMSEC on August 25, 2015, and has been updated for inclusion into the Russia Resurgent Topic Week.  By Sally DeBoer On August 4th, the Russian Federation’s Foreign...

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Can’t Anybody Play This Game? US FON Operations and Law of the Sea

This article originally featured on Lawfare. It may be read in its original form here.  By Raul “Pete” Pedrozo and James Kraska The United States has been unable to synchronize successful air and sea...

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South China Sea arbitration: Beijing puts forward her own views Part One

By Alex Calvo Introduction: restatement or small Filipino victory? Manila’s international arbitration bid has been repeatedly rejected by Beijing, which argues that it does not fall under the...

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South China Sea arbitration: Beijing puts forward her own views Part Two

By Alex Calvo This is the second installment in a four-part series devoted to China’s 7 December 2014 document, putting forward her views on the Philippines’ international arbitration case on the South...

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South China Sea arbitration: Beijing puts forward her own views Part Three

By Alex Calvo This is the third installment in a four-part series devoted to China’s 7 December 2014 document, putting forward her views on the Philippines’ international arbitration case on the South...

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South China Sea arbitration: Beijing puts forward her own views: The Finale

By Alex Calvo This is the final installment in a four-part series devoted to China’s 7 December 2014 document, putting forward her views on the Philippines’ international arbitration case on the South...

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US Department of State Seeks to Clarify Meaning of China’s 9-Dash Line Part 1

By Alex Calvo Introduction Despite repeatedly stating that it will not take sides in territorial disputes in East Asia, Washington remains keenly interested in the ultimate fate of the South China Sea....

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US Department of State Seeks to Clarify Meaning of China’s 9-Dash Line Part 2

By Alex Calvo This is the second installment in a five-part series summarizing and commenting the 5 December 2014 US Department of State “Limits in the Seas” issue explaining the different ways in...

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January 2016 Members’ Round-Up Part One

Welcome to part one of the January 2016 members’ round-up! Over the past month CIMSEC members have examined several international maritime security issues, including future development programs for the...

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US Department of State Seeks to Clarify Meaning of China’s 9-Dash Line Part 3

By Alex Calvo This is the third installment in a five-part series summarizing and commenting the 5 December 2014 US Department of State “Limits in the Seas” issue explaining the different ways in which...

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US Department of State Seeks to Clarify Meaning of China’s 9-Dash Line Part 4

By Alex Calvo This is the fourth installment in a five-part series summarizing and commenting the 5 December 2014 US Department of State “Limits in the Seas” issue explaining the different ways in...

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US Department of State Seeks to Clarify Meaning of China’s 9-Dash Line: Finale

By Alex Calvo This is the fifth installment in a five-part series summarizing and commenting the 5 December 2014 US Department of State “Limits in the Seas” issue explaining the different ways in which...

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Members’ Roundup: July 2016 Part One

By Sam Cohen Welcome to Part One of the July 2016 members’ roundup. Through the first half of July, CIMSEC members examined several international maritime security issues, including the Permanent Court...

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Military Activities on the Continental Shelf

This piece was originally published by the Lawfare Institute in Cooperation with Brookings and is republished with permission. Read it in its original form here. By James Kraska The recent...

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Lessons from the Arctic for the South China Sea

By Daniel Thomassen  Introduction The maritime region centered on the South China Sea has been a vital international trade route and reservoir of natural resources throughout modern history. Today, its...

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Sea Control 134 – The South China Sea with Vasco Becker-Weingberg

By Matthew Merighi Join the latest episode of Sea Control for a conversation with Professor Vasco Becker-Weingberg of Universidad Nova in Lisbon, Portugal, about the South China Sea. The interview,...

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South China Sea: Continuous U.S. Presence or a New Law of the Sea Treaty

This article originally featured on Divergent Options and is republished with permission. Read it in its original form here. By David Mattingly National Security Situation:  The United Nations...

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A Sign of the Times: China’s Recent Actions and the Undermining of Global Rules

By Tuan N. Pham More Chinese assertiveness and unilateralism are coming. In January, this author’s article in a separate publication assessed strategic actions that Beijing will probably undertake in...

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China’s Claim to the Spratly Islands is Just a Mistake

This article is an adaptation of an academic publication by Bill Hayton published in ‘Modern China’ as ‘The Modern Origins of China’s South China Sea Claims: Maps, Misunderstandings, and the Maritime...

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A Sign of the Times: China’s Recent Actions and the Undermining of Global...

By Tuan N. Pham Last March, CIMSEC published an article titled “A Sign of the Times: China’s Recent Actions and the Undermining of Global Rules, Part 1” highlighting three troubling developments that...

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False Assumptions May Lead to Counterproductive U.S. Policy in the South...

By Mark J. Valencia In his piece, Mr. Pham “lays out recommended ways and means that Washington can regain and maintain the strategic initiative in the Indo-Pacific.” However many of his...

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Maritime Order and America’s Indo-Pacific Strategy

By Dr. Patrick M. Cronin America as a Seapower The United States is a “seapower” in all senses of the word. Its history, prosperity, and security are inseparable from the oceans. Even U.S. states...

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