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9 Lex Portus 19 (2023)
The "Sea Factor" in Regional Cooperation: The Impact of the Russo-Ukrainian War

handle is hein.journals/lxportus29 and id is 69 raw text is: ISSN 2524-101X ID LEX PORTUS VOL 9 ISS 2 2023 eISSN 2617-541 X DOI 10.26886/2524-101 X.9.2.2023.2 The Sea Factor in Regional Cooperation: The Impact of the Russo-Ukrainian War Sergiy Kivalov* *Doctor of Law, Professor, President of National University Odessa Law Academy (23, Fontanska Doroga, Odessa, Ukraine) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4651-1805 ABSTRACT CITATION The sea factor has a crucial influence on coastal states' domestic and foreign policies, Kivalov, S. (2023). The Sea Factor and may create additional incentives for regional cooperation and integration. The Russo- in Regional Cooperation: The Ukrainian War, the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II, has become a stress Impact of the Russo-Ukrainian test for many regional transpor and infrastructureprojects. Moreover, this armedconflict has War Lex Portus, 9(2), 19-27. many traspor prjecs. amedconficthas https://doi.org/ 10.26886/2524- had different effects in different cases. For the Three Seas Initiative, the Russo-Ukrainian war 101X.9.2.2023.2 became an additional incentive to strengthen cooperation. It gave the initiative new meaning and even stimulated its expansion through the decision to grant partner status to Ukraine. KEYWORDS At the same time, this conflict had negative consequences for China's Belt and Road Initiative Three Seas Initiative, BRI, Black Sea (BRI). The war also led to the emergence of another area of cooperation between Ukraine and Grain Initiative, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey in the Black Sea Grain Initiative. war, armed conflict. The journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non~mmerial-harelike4.0 International License Introduction Geopolitical instability and a series of open and hybrid conflicts have significantly impacted the development of the modern maritime industry over the last decade. Within the framework of these conflicts, the coastal factor is of particular importance, determining the political decisions and positioning of states as they change and adapt to the new reality. Different coastal rights claims and militarized walls in the sea become significant obstacles to the freedom of navigation, leading to new divisions in maritime space (Wirth, 2023). However, these issues go far beyond freedom of navigation and impact all fields of modern ocean governance. While nation-states remain the primary actors for global ocean governance, maritime disputes inevitably harm their willingness to cooperate (Song et al., 2022). Sea and ocean coasts are historically the basis of states' economic, political, and military power. States' maritime policy is shaped over decades and centuries by a complex interplay of interests and challenges, threats, regional geographic and climatic features, proximity to or participation in conflicts, and the consequences of artificial and environmental disasters. This makes maritime history complex and comprehensive, covering broad policy topics and objectives (Bach & Hansen, 2023). Maritime policies ('maritime' here referring to both ports and shipping) usually result from a multitude of public policy, societal, economic, defense, and other interests (Baird, 2005, p. 385). Even UNCLOS'82 (the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), the signing of which at first glance settled the main issues of coastal rights, requires the conclusion of additional multilateral and bilateral agreements to fully realize its potential. In addition, deficiencies such as vagueness and different interpretations make consultation on UNCLOS necessary (Song et al., 2022). This encourages states to develop and refine specific legal policies covering substantive topics, negotiation approaches, and dispute settlement concerning coastal rights (Fife, 2023). Thus, the maritime policy of the state