Maritime Order Status And Role In The International Order Changes

Ocean is the broad chest of the earth, and the bridge that leads the development of civilization history of human beings from region to the whole world.Since the fifteenth century, for the purpose of gaining sea rights and interests, the essence of sea order has been defined by the relations between different nations formed from all aspects of politics, economics, military, laws, etc; as well as all sorts of principles, regulations and mechanism arising from the competition of sea rights. The impacts of sea order on international order are determined by the prosperity and declination of sea power from different nations, and the role variation of powerful nations in international politics as well.Sea power is a significant component of the overall national strength of a sovereign state. Making a general survey of the developmental history of international relations, we find one of the key threads to international order is offered by the international competition of rights and interests based on sea power; furthermore, such competition provides one fundamental impetus for the formation and gradual progress of international order. The conception of sea rights and interests is an extremely complicated category, and it has various connotations in different historical periods. Nevertheless, however its connotation changes, sea rights and interests remain an important component of national interests. In the various connotations, the sea power is a significant content; it is not only a major tactics for protecting national sea rights and interests, but also an important target for pursuing of sea rights and interests. The national sea power determines the status and function of a nation on international order. However, as the deepening of globalization and interaction, the function of international marine mechanism is being strengthened. The sea power, symbolized by international marine mechanism and maritime military force, determines the variation of universal sea order, and determines the variation of international order.Under the guidance of Marxism, using the methodology of historical narration and theoretical analysis, this dissertation has sorted out the process of changes of sea order and international order from 1493 to 1991, and has analyzed the role and function of sea order in the variation of international order, and has managed to find out the regularity of the variation of oceanic order to provide some enlightenment for protecting our sea rights and interests and constructing oceanic order. In the discussion of each section, different topics have been emphasized in time sequence. The introduction and the main body frame the structure of the whole dissertation. The introduction provides information on the significance of this selected topic, the present research situation, research methodology, and creative ideas as well as focal points and difficulties.In the first chapter the effects of great geographic discovery on the sea order and international order have been elaborated. The time span is from 1493 to 1648, that is, from the initial division of world oceans by Spain and Portugal to the foundation of Westminster system. The author points out that taking the great geographic discovery as the starting point, the history of human beings began transiting to global history and the forming of oceanic politics and geography pattern became the common historic starting point of sea order and international order.In chapter two, three and four, it traces back to the evolution process of sea order and international order, and the influence of sea order on international order as well. Chapter two organizes the historical process of variation of oceanic monopoly within 300 years from the 17th century to 19th century, from the angle of the variation of prosperity and declination of Great Powers in the sea. The time span was from 1609 to 1905, that is, from the independence of Holland and its challenges to the supremacy of Spain in oceans, the research illustrates the process in which Britain had fought with Holland, France and the other states to gain supremacy in the sea, and had maintained its supremacy for one century. The author takes the Japanese-Russian war in 1905 as the historical coordinate of historical time terminus. From the author's point of view, this period of variation process in universal sea order, determines the development process of international order radically.In chapter three, the author analyzes the influence of the changes of sea power on the construction and collapse of Versailles-Washington system from the perspective of impact of sea power on the international order, pointing out that, with the end of great geographic discovery and establishment of world colony system, the basic sea order has been formed up. In addition, the Versailles-Washington system set up in this period, was the first globally international order in a genuine sense, and this order was an international order with"strength + mechanism", which was constructed upon navy force and marine treaty. Hence, just because of the growth and decline of strength as well as the rise and abolishment of mechanism, the Versailles-Washington system collapsed under the interplay of the two.Chapter four analyzes the impacts of the sea competition between the two superpowers-United States and the former Soviet Union on the bi-polar pattern. The time span was from 1945 to 1991. In author's opinion, with the collapse of colony system and the development of science and technology, the connotation of sea rights and interests experienced great changes, the fights of colonies was no longer the essence of the fights of marine supremacy, and the factors in science, technology and economics started to play greater role. The oceanic military strength remains the critical factor in international order and it has radiates powerful and comprehensive influence, mingled with the scientific, technologic and economic factors. With the context of nuclear times, the strategic power and international political influence of nuclear attacking strength in oceans and strategic throwing-in strength, has been evident. The development of Russian oceanic power and its fights against the United States for marine supremacy plays crucial role in the forming, evolving and collapsing of the bi-polar pattern.In chapter five, setting about the sea order and the systemization of international order, the author analyzes the fights spread out between the developed and developing nations centering on the formulation of"United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea"since 1960s, revealing the essence that great powers control the order, system, standard and mechanism of the contemporary world sea. The author describes the actual situation of oceanic mechanism and international mechanism construction before the formulation of"United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea", and it is stated that hereafter the oceanic mechanism has been continuously developed towards higher standard of progress. Being a significant component of international order, the essence of the progress of oceanic order can be considered as the historic progress of contemporary international order, furthermore, the institutionalization and systematization become the mutual tendency of development for the oceanic order and international order. In this period, the developing countries have fought against the unreasonable old international sea order for protecting and gaining sea rights and interests, in sequence, have pushed forward the construction of international politics and new economic order.The sixth chapter summarizes the research work contained in this dissertation, demonstrates the law of variation of world sea order, and provides the author's specific opinion regarding the conception of sea order for China. It is pointed out that the evolving of world sea order is the outcome of the interplaying of many factors. In the narration of earlier episodes about the modern history of world, it can be evidently seen that, on one side, the historical function of sea hard power, taking military strength as the dominant factor, is tending to fade, on the other side, the function of sea soft power, taking the construction of international sea system as the main factor, is intensifying. To this end, to construct the world sea order, China, as the latecomer, needs to take account of sea power, that is, strength construction, and the progress of international sea system; and takes efforts to the construction of harmonious sea order with"equality and mutual benefit, harmony and coexistence", proceeding from the considerations of defending the sea rights and interests of China and national interests, based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.