OVERVIEW

Throughout 1999–2001, the United States pursued the development of international law in the area of oceans, environment, health, and aviation. With respect to oceans, the United States undertook numerous initiatives to advance its national security, facilitate commerce, manage fish resources, foster scientific understanding, and protect the marine environment through bilateral, regional, and multilateral fora. With respect to the environment, the United States pursued the effective international management of natural resources, such as fresh water and forests, and the effective regulation of transboundary movements of genetically modified organisms and hazardous chemicals. Yet, as was particularly seen in the negotiations on climate change, the United States demonstrated that it would balance its interests in natural resource protection against the economic consequences of such regulation. In the field of global health law, the United States grappled with global efforts to minimize the health threats from tobacco and to provide effective treatment for persons exposed to HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. In the field of aviation law, various issues arose concerning the development of rules on the operation of aircraft, the liability of air carriers when accidents occur, and right of state aircraft to operate in international airspace, with the later issue dramatically raised in the context of an aerial incident off the coast of the People's Republic of China.