This essay ties together some key elements of a maritime existence – indulgence, mercy, pretence, prerogative, plunder, homicide – and contrasts them with the growing importance among commercial societies of contract, justice, rights, the legal alienation of goods, and the punishment of those who take what is not theirs. And then it measures Defoe’s adherence on the one side to what amounts to a state of war, and on the other to a state of civil society. It comes as a surprise to find that Defoe, author of The Compleat English Tradesman, entertains opinions about sovereignty that are far from being commercially orthodox. The moment when the pirate Bob Singleton becomes aware that he can exercise the prerogative either of absolute power, and kill his captives, or of mercy, letting them live and even healing their wounds, marks the end of his feelings of guilt and uselessness, and the access of an ecstatic kind of self-discovery, a sort of sublime caprice.

This book addresses multiple perspectives on challenges and solutions to the environmental rule of law for oceans. Despite the variety of perspectives, topics and geographical areas covered, several cross-cutting challenges appear. These include the need for both flexibility and generality, as well as both specificity and fit-for-purpose law; a lack of clarity in definitions, provisions and laws; the urgent need for enhanced coordination and cooperation; and the need to improve implementation, compliance and enforcement. This closing chapter presents solutions in the context of (1) tackling existing and new pressures on the marine environment, (2) ensuring a proper balance between exploitation and protection of oceans and seas, (3) improving implementation, compliance and enforcement and (4) strengthening the rule of law in regional seas and oceans.