The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road

'Taken together, these essays provide detailed and interesting analysis, projections, and recommendations relating to the Maritime Silk Road. Summing Up: Recommended.' -- M. J. Frost, emerita, Wittenberg University, CHOICE 'In this cohesive collection of 14 essays stemming from two international symposia on the maritime issues pertaining to Xi Zinpings 2013 One Belt, One Road" initiative, the 18 contributing authors, primarily legal scholars, examine these challenges in depth. Like the initiative's land-based Silk Road Economic Belt, the stated goal of the Maritime Silk Road is diversified and sustainable development through improved network connectivity to enhance Chinas geostrategic and economic ambitions. Chinese financial, technological, and production resources will be harnessed to build ports and other related physical infrastructure, develop and improve transport and supply chain systems, and expand natural resource exploitation and international trade markets. Within the framework of existing international laws, agreements, and organizations, and according to bilateral and multilateral accords, intra- and interregional cooperation of the Eurasian, African, Oceanic, and European nations bordering the South China Sea and the Indian, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans is critical, yet risks persist. The contributors explore these risks through multiple dimensions of trade and national security, the impacts of climate change, and environmental challenges. Taken together, these essays provide detailed and interesting analysis, projections, and recommendations relating to the Maritime Silk Road. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.'--M. J. Frost, Wittenberg University, CHOICE

Keyuan Zou is Harris Professor of International Law at the Lancashire Law School and Director of the Institute for International and Comparative Law, University of Central Lancashire, UK. Shicun Wu is President of Chinas National Institute for South China Sea Studies, and a Deputy Director of the Collaborative Innovation Centre of South China Sea Studies, Nanjing University, China. Qiang Ye is Research Associate, National Institute for South China Sea Studies, China. Currently, he is a PhD candidate at Lancashire Law School, University of Central Lancashire, UK.

1. Introduction Part 1: Maritime Silk Road and Challenges to Asia-Europe Cooperation 2. An EU Perspective on the Maritime Silk Road: Legal Issues 3. The Northern Sea Route in the Context of Chinas Maritime Silk Road Initiative 4. The Challenge to the Maritime Silk Road to Port Connectivity Part 2: Sea Lanes of Communication and Navigational Safety 5. Maritime Silk Road Initiative Changing Geopolitical Configuration in the Indo-Pacific 6. Maritime Security and Sea Lanes of Communication: Geographical Perspective on Belt and Road Initiative 7. SLOCs Security in the South China Sea: Enhancing or Hindering the Maritime Silk Road? 8. The Polar Codes Suitability as Legal Protection Against Negative Externalities in the Arctic as Part of the Polar Silk Road? Part 3: Environmental Security and Marine Resources Cooperation 9. Climate Law Implications of the Maritime Silk Road Initiative 10. Environmental Security in the South China Sea: Cooperation and Challenges under the Maritime Silk Road Initiative 11. Protection of the Marine Environment in the South China Sea in the Aftermath of the Philippines/China Arbitration 12. Conciliation for Marine Transboundary Energy Resources. A Law and Economics Approach 13. Cooperation on Fisheries Management in the South China Sea Part 4: Handling Financial and Trade Issues 14. Prospects for the Integration of Environmental, Social, and Cultural Sustainability within the Belt and Road Initiative: Case Study of the Duqm Port Development Project in Oman 15. The New Maritime Silk Road and WTO Law: Road to Harmony or Conflict?