Gabriela A. Frei addresses the interaction between international maritime law and maritime strategy in a historical context, arguing that both international law and maritime strategy are based on long-term state interests. Great Britain as the predominant sea power in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries shaped the relationship between international law and maritime strategy like no other power. This study explores how Great Britain used international maritime law as an instrument of foreign policy to protect its strategic and economic interests, and how maritime strategic thought evolved in parallel to the development of international legal norms. Frei offers an analysis of British state practice as well as an examination of the efforts of the international community to codify international maritime law in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Great Britain as the predominant sea power as well as the world's largest carrier of goods had to balance its interests as both a belligerent and a neutral power. With the growing importance of international law in international politics, the volume examines the role of international lawyers, strategists, and government officials who shaped state practice. Great Britain's neutrality for most of the period between 1856 and 1914 influenced its state practice and its perceptions of a future maritime conflict. Yet, the codification of international maritime law at the Hague and London conferences at the beginning of the twentieth century demanded a reassessment of Great Britain's legal position.

This three-volume Manual on International Maritime Law presents a systematic analysis of the history and contemporary development of international maritime law by leading contributors from across the world. Prepared in cooperation with the International Maritime Law Institute, the International Maritime Organization's research and training institute, this a uniquely comprehensive study of this fundamental area of international law. Volume I: The Law of the Sea addresses the major issues which arise in the law of the sea. It provides a detailed understanding of the historical development of the law of the sea; the role of the International Maritime Organization; the law surrounding maritime zones; the legal regime of islands; the international sea-bed area; the legal regime governing marine scientific research; the rights and obligations of land-locked and geographically disadvantaged states; the legal regime of Arctic and Antarctic; and the settlements of disputes. This volume also considers the ways in which human rights and the law of the sea interact. The forthcoming Volume II will address shipping law; Volume III will provide analysis of marine environmental law and maritime security law. The full three-volume Manual will set out the entirety of international maritime law, re-stating and re-examining its fundamental principles, how it is enacted, and the issues that are shaping its future. It will be a superlative resource for those working with or studying this area of law.