Decolonization and International Law: Putting the Ocean on the Map

From the middle of the twentieth century onwards, the order of the ocean has changed as remarkably as that of land. Yet, developments in the law of the sea usually receive less prominent consideration in international or global histories of this period. In this short essay, I examine firstly the ways in which literatures in history and international law engage, or not, with the ordering of the ocean during, and due to, decolonization. Secondly, I suggest that the making of the law of the sea offers rich insights into the contingencies, currents, and counter-currents of the decolonization moment. Among other things it reveals fluid political geographies, epistemic churn, and alternative models for the extraction and distribution of natural resources. The flickerings and foreclosures of the various possibilities of the decolonization moment are well worth further study, especially as unsettling our understandings of oceanic lines becomes necessary in the present times.