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The Scramble for the Arctic: The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Extending National Seabed Claims
Unformatted Document Text:  The Scramble for the Arctic:  The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea  (UNCLOS) and Extending National Seabed Claims We examine the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and recent expansive territorial claims in the Arctic.  We review competing national claims and the status of the Law of the Sea Treaty in the United States. Abstract:This paper reviews the codification of the international standard for the exploitation of the continental shelf, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The “Law of the Sea” convention or treaty, this agreement entered into force in 1994 yet still has not been ratified by the United States, despite mounting pressure to do so. Because of shifting climate conditions in the Arctic, new technologies for oil extraction, and increasing international demand that makes expensive extraction more viable, there has recently emerged a new “Scramble for the Arctic” as a USGS survey suggests that up to 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30% of its gas remain beneath the seabed. We examine the current state of the Treaty in the United States, as well as the international challenges to US territorial interests in the context of seabed claims made by Russia, Canada, Denmark, and Norway.  As early adopters of UNCLOS have until May 2009 to submit claims and the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf rules on claims for extended territorial waters, the dispute is only likely to heat up.  The resolution of the Arctic Scramble also holds a precedent setting promise, as there is a similar pending crisis in Antarctica.  Will the involved nations observe the rule of international law, or will this be a 21 st  century neo-imperial echo to the Scramble for  Africa? Paper prepared for presentation at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political  Science Association, held in Chicago, IL April 2-5, 2009.   Working Draft Author Contact:Jon D. Carlson     Christopher Hubach School of Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities ## email not listed ##   University of CaliforniaMerced, CA  95344 Joseph Long ## email not listed ##   ## email not listed ## Kellen Minteer Shane Young ## email not listed ## ## email not listed ## 1

Authors: Carlson, Jon D.., Hubach, Chris., Long, Joe., Minteer, Kellen. and Young, Shane.
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The Scramble for the Arctic:  The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 
(UNCLOS) and Extending National Seabed Claims
We examine the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and 
recent expansive territorial claims in the Arctic.  We review competing national claims 
and the status of the Law of the Sea Treaty in the United States.
Abstract:
This paper reviews the codification of the international standard for the exploitation of 
the continental shelf, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). 
The “Law of the Sea” convention or treaty, this agreement entered into force in 1994 yet 
still has not been ratified by the United States, despite mounting pressure to do so. 
Because of shifting climate conditions in the Arctic, new technologies for oil extraction, 
and increasing international demand that makes expensive extraction more viable, there 
has recently emerged a new “Scramble for the Arctic” as a USGS survey suggests that up 
to 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30% of its gas remain beneath the seabed. 
We examine the current state of the Treaty in the United States, as well as the 
international challenges to US territorial interests in the context of seabed claims made by 
Russia, Canada, Denmark, and Norway.  As early adopters of UNCLOS have until May 
2009 to submit claims and the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf 
rules on claims for extended territorial waters, the dispute is only likely to heat up.  The 
resolution of the Arctic Scramble also holds a precedent setting promise, as there is a 
similar pending crisis in Antarctica.  Will the involved nations observe the rule of 
international law, or will this be a 21
st
 century neo-imperial echo to the Scramble for 
Africa?
Paper prepared for presentation at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political 
Science Association, held in Chicago, IL April 2-5, 2009.
 Working Draft
Author Contact:
Jon D. Carlson 
  
Christopher Hubach
School of Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities
University of California
Merced, CA  95344
Joseph Long
Kellen Minteer
Shane Young
1


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