The 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, the result of 14 years of negotiation, was accepted by 159 nations. It was, however, rejected by the Reagan administration, a position which was quite at odds with the widespread international support that the treaty enjoyed from other nations.

First studied is the customary law of the sea and efforts to negotiate a stable, legal regime, focusing on seaward expansion of coastal-state jurisdiction. The book also looks at the United Nations efforts to regulate the exploitation of deep-sea mineral deposits, the conflict between developed and developing states at the Third United Nations Conference for the Law of the Sea, and the decision by the United States to proceed unilaterally with seabed mining.

An in-depth analysis is given of US objections to the convention and of the legal status of deep seabed resources, concluding with an evaluation of the convention's importance to the United States. Extensive notes, bibliography and index conclude the text.