ABSTRACT

Confidence-building measures and preventive diplomacy are widely discussed in security discourse. Maritime confidence-building measures (MCBM) might include greater clarity and understanding in the region of particular law of the sea issues. Political suspicions are still rife in the Asia-Pacific region, in East Asia in particular, and the region lacks the strong political frameworks that could facilitate cooperative clearer understandings of freedoms of navigation in the region, as well as appropriate MCBMs. Measures to prevent/manage incidents between the maritime security forces of different countries, or incident at sea agreements, whether bilateral or multilateral, are classic MCBMs. Uncertainty in the law of sea may grow, and the United States, in particular, may find increasing difficulty in maintaining its strict interpretation of navigational regimes and coastal state jurisdiction. United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea was a magnificent achievement for the 1970s and 1980s and remains a careful balance of the rights and duties of the different categories of State.