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UTENRIKS-Internasjonale forhold - utenriks- og sikkerhetspolitikk og norske interesser

Challenges to Ocean Governance: Regional Disputes, Global Consequences? (OCEANGOV)

Alternative title: Havpolitikk og forvaltning: Regionale disputter, globale konsekvenser? (OCEANGOV)

Awarded: NOK 9.0 mill.

Climatic, economic and technological changes entail a greater focus on maritime space. This has become increasingly evident in certain maritime domains, like the Arctic Ocean, the Black Sea, and the East and South China Sea. What determines the emergence and evolution of disputes over marine resources and maritime space a regional context? Which factors prompt changes in these dynamics? And what can this tell us about conflict management and resolution more generally in the maritime domain? Furthermore, how are global ocean governance mechanisms - with an emphasis on LOS - influenced by regional dynamics, which in turn constrain the very same dynamics? This four-year research project - OceanGov - combines two social science approaches - international relations and international law - to study conflicts and disputes at sea. So far in the project, we have identified factors and trends that explain why some disputes at sea escalate, while others lead to agreement. In particular, we have looked at three maritime domains: the Arctic Ocean; Black Sea; and the East China Sea. In addition, we have assessed nearby areas and how these relate to the three mentioned, with an emphasis on the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the South China Sea. We have also added a study of the EU's role as an actor in global maritime policy development and in several of the aforementioned maritime domains. Based on the findings of these analyses, we have embarked on a study of international law and international politics more generally. The aim is to link region-specific findings with global governance trends within jurisdictional areas in the law of the sea. In addition, a doctoral student is working on an assessment of the interaction between international politics and ocean law in the development of rules for the extraction of seabed minerals, both internationally and nationally.

Climatic, economic and technological changes entail a greater focus on maritime space, in turn prompting a rethink of how conflicts and dispute management at sea are viewed. This has become increasingly evident in certain maritime domains, like the Arctic Ocean, the Black Sea, and the East China Sea. Examples of disputes include overlapping zonal and continental-shelf claims, the status of sea lanes, and the spatial distribution of transboundary fish stocks as well as sedentary species. However, research on maritime disputes tends to be case-oriented and is rarely seen in relation to the wider literature on inter-state conflicts, international law and conflict studies. Moreover, maritime disputes have often been dismissed as peripheral in the conflict literature. This project asks: What determines the emergence and evolution of disputes over marine resources and maritime space a regional context? Which factors prompt changes in these dynamics? And what can this tell us about conflict management and resolution more generally in the maritime domain? Furthermore, how are global ocean governance mechanisms – with an emphasis on LOS – influenced by regional dynamics, which in turn constrain the very same dynamics? This four-year research project – OceanGov – focuses on these questions, combining two strands within the social sciences – international relations and international law – in an interdisciplinary approach to examine disputes at sea. We will identify conditional propositions and trends explaining why some disputes at sea escalate whereas others are settled, within three maritime domains: the Arctic Ocean; the Black Sea also linked to the Mediterranean; and the East and South China Sea (Indo Pacific) - alongside an examination of the EU as an ocean governance actor. From this, we will embark on an in-depth study of ocean governance and international politics, linking region-specific findings with global governance trends in three jurisdictional areas of the Law of the Sea: territorial waters; exclusive economic zones/continental shelves; and the high seas.

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UTENRIKS-Internasjonale forhold - utenriks- og sikkerhetspolitikk og norske interesser