Law of the Sea in U.S.-Vietnam Relations

This book, by integrating legal, political, and strategic perspectives, aims to contribute both theoretically and practically to a clearer understanding of Vietnam and the US’s stances in this complex region. Ultimately, it seeks to provide insights into how bilateral cooperation, legal interpretation, and strategic alignment can strengthen the international maritime order and promote stability and peace in the South China Sea. Two dimensions of this influence are explored in this study: Vietnam’s and American participations in the United Nations Conferences on the Law of the Sea; and the handling of concrete legal questions related to baselines, innocent passage, freedom of navigation, marine scientific research, Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, security and defense cooperation, marine environmental protection, the outer limits of the continental shelf, and high seas issues in the context of the South China Sea.