On 28 October at 11:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Moscow venue of the Valdai Club will host a presentation of the report “The Unfreedom of Navigation?” dedicated to the implementation of international maritime law norms in modern conditions.
Changes in international legislation concerning the high seas largely lag behind the development of economic activity. Even before the entry into force of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, it was obvious that in the near term additional regulation could be introduced on the high seas covering military activity and industrial fishing, and that control would be strengthened over the environmental consequences of mineral and energy resource extraction and exploration, the level of marine pollution, and measures to protect and conserve marine mammals.
Divergences in the field of maritime law stem from the fact that the freedoms of the high seas are gradually ceasing to be regarded as absolute; they are to a significant extent subordinated not to national but to global interests, as understood primarily by the leading Western countries. Amid the sanctions regime imposed against the Russian Federation, calls are increasingly heard from a number of countries and organizations to close or restrict movement through international straits used for international navigation, with regard to tankers of the so-called “shadow fleet.”
Proposals are also being made to expand the powers of coastal states in maritime zones under their sovereignty and jurisdiction to ensure their own security, to the detriment of the legitimate interests of other countries in using these maritime spaces. It is often postulated that the existing legal regime established by the Convention is already outdated and does not correspond to new challenges and threats, especially “hybrid” ones, and therefore must be transformed to suit the interests of the international community.
What challenges to freedom of navigation does the policy of the “collective West” create? Will the sanctions regime become superior to the norms and provisions of contemporary international maritime law? Do the provisions of the Convention need revision and updating in light of the current structure of global international relations? These and other questions will be addressed by the participants in the presentation of the Valdai Club report.
Speakers:
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Pavel Gudev, Leading Research Fellow, IMEMO RAS
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Prokhor Tebin, Leading Research Fellow, Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies, HSE University
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Maxim Shepovalenko, Deputy Director, Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies
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Mohammad Dehshiri, Dean of the School of International Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran
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Sanjeev Chaudhry, Director of the Editorial Board, United Institute of Defence Studies, India
Moderator:
Working languages: Russian, English
Information for the media: To register for the event, please fill out the form on our website. For any inquiries, contact press@valdaiclub.com or call +79269307763.
The discussion will be live-streamed across all Valdai Club platforms: the website, X (formerly Twitter), VK, Telegram and Dzen.
The Valdai Discussion Club was established in 2004. It is named after Lake Valdai, which is located close to Veliky Novgorod, where the Club’s first meeting took place.
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