These and other leading issues facing the global community today are the subjects of essays in this volume. The authors, acknowledged authorities in the field, offer searching reappraisals of how the "common heritage" concepts in ocean law have been challenged by the contemporary crises in marine uses and ocean environment and resources. How national governments and international organizations have responded to urgent questions of ocean management is a major focus of these studies, and the book also provides important historical perspective on the doctrinal legacy of earlier ocean law. Emerging legal norms and the principles of law, new procedural mandates, the problems of implementation, and recent institutional developments in the international arena all receive attention in this work.