The Melting and Partitioning of a Global Commons

On Aug 2, 2007, the Russian Federation planted its national flag, encased in titanium, on the seabed beneath the North Pole. This action catapulted the question of who rightfully owns the Arctic to the forefront of international deliberation. The US is now in the midst of a national debate as to whether it is in its interest to ratify the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 25 years after its adoption in 1982. UNCLOS is a comprehensive global treaty governing the management of the uses of one of the most important global commons: the ocean, its waters, and its marine resources. UNCLOS defines a coastal state's jurisdictional zones for the territorial and the contiguous seas. Under UNCLOS, a coastal state has the right to claim sovereignty and resource control over an exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The EEZ shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.