The rules of the Law of the Sea and international space: a study on the struggle for determining the legal knowledge in the UN

Abstract

By analyzing UN diplomatic negotiations on the law of the sea (1973-1982), this article studies the composition of delegations from Brazil, France and the United States and the performance of their law professionals and other professionals at the margins of negotiations. They all take part in a struggle to interpret the new rules of the law of the sea. On the one hand, this work confirms the United States’ influence on the production of this new legal knowledge. On the other hand, it also demonstrates that anti-hegemonic strategies are built in the international field during the negotiation process. Diplomats from peripheral countries ally themselves with less “noble” experts and manage to introduce into international law the new legal principle of “common heritage of mankind”, which goes against the interests of the main economic powers of the time.