The Politics of Continental Shelves: The South China Sea in a Comparative Perspective

• Published in: Cooperation and Conflict
• Main Author: Østreng, Willy
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 1985
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/001083678502000402; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/001083678502000402

Østreng, W. The Politics of Continental Shelves: The South China Sea in a Comparative Perspective. Cooperation and Conflict XX, 1985, 253-277. The author discusses three modes of reaction to international conflicts regarding the rights to exploit resources on the seabed to which there are overlapping claims of sovereignty: zero-sum reactions, freeze reactions, and positive-sum reactions. In doing so, the author draws on experience from joint-development arrangements in the North Atlantic, the Red Sea, the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and the boundary area between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The purpose is to discuss the relevance of some of the political factors that have previously produced these modes of reaction and to relate them to the resource and boundary problems in the South China Sea. The author concludes that parties that have an issue-specific conflict, a uniting ism, the least ambitious programme for conflict resolution, a large degree of interdependence, where the application of law is politicized and the parties utilize a conciliation commission, will be more likely to succeed in agreeing on a positive-sum solution. Correspondingly, it is concluded that parties facing a cumulative conflict, lacking a joint ism, striving for a comprehensive solution, with a small degree of interdependence and not availing themselves of a conciliation commission, have a greater chance of having a zero-sum reaction.