The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an international treaty that governs the use of the world's oceans. On 16 November 1994, after obtaining the required sixty signatures, the Law of the Sea Treaty became international law. Today, 143 countries are part of UNCLOS. However, the United States is not part of it for many reasons. In 1993, the Department of Defense provided an ocean policy review document on “the relevance and appropriateness of U.S. ocean policy, from a strategic perspective, to support the national defense strategy.” which determined that U.S. national security interests in the oceans were protected even though the United States is not a party to UNCLOS (USDOD 76-94). U.S. practices over the past 300 years have created the same routine law of the sea that is the foundation of the navigation provisions of UNCLOS. It is therefore incorrect to say that the United States could benefit from the convention's shipping provisions if it were to join it (Groves). The United States protects its navigation rights by diplomatically protesting naval claims made by other nations and by conducting operational activities with the United States. US naval forces to combat these claims. Even before the adoption of UNCLOS in 1982, the United States had ordered protests and conducted naval actions to combat the nautical claims of other nations (Roach 7-8). If the United States were to join the convention it would cause a dangerous and permanent loss of resources American power. It would require the U.S. Treasury to send tens, perhaps even hundreds, of billions of dollars to a particular international organization in Jamaica. So this organization is authorized to redistribute those US dollars to countries with in...... middle of paper ...... that the US does not need to get universal international recognition of its ECS to give confidence to oil drilling and refining companies (Groves) UNCLOS is a convention established to help protect the world's oceans. However, there are many types of corruption within it that would harm America if it were to join the convention. The United States would have to pay a large sum of money for the suspected pollution it may have caused. Additionally, the United States would have to pay royalties to the ISA on earnings from oil exploration on the continental shelf. Even the use of UNCLOS would seem useless to us for navigation rights because America has effectively created the same routine for the Law of the Sea regarding navigation. If America entered UNCLOS it would be a waste of time and money and it would only affect the American people.