An Analysis Of The U.S. Policy On 12 Nautical Miles Territorial Seas And Free Transit Of Straits: 1969-1972

Since the"Truman manifesto"published in the year 1945, the coastal states have raised the tide of expanding the territorial seas and claiming for the fishing right in the adjacent zones. Coastal states continued to expanding it's territorial waters and adjacent zones after the Second United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea because the international standard of the breadth of territorial sea hadn't been formulated in the conferences. For an important state which influencing the economic development of the world and as the sea power in the world after the Second World War, the United States, how to formulate marine policy could both guarantee it's own marine interest and be supported on the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, is the important content of the US marine policy during Nixon administration time.During the period of arranging the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea from the year 1969 to 1972, for it's own interests, the US accepted the 12 nautical mile breadths of the territorial sea which Soviet Union proposed, then it reached the principle of the"freedom transit through the international straits"within the scope of 12 nautical mile breadths of the territorial sea, and realized it's mobility in the global oceans and airs.The US and Soviet Union achieved 12 nautical mile breadths of territorial sea and free transit though the international strait principle, because the US government putted the ideology interest above the marine interest when it formulated the marine policy during the Nixon administration time. The US did certain compromises which traded it's own fishery interests for obtaining the approval to the principle of"free transit through straits".