Testing the Boundaries: Conflict and Contest in the South China Sea

Wednesday, October 27, 2021
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM (Eastern Daylight Time)

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About the Event

Guest speaker Jonathan Odom will join NYU Law School Adjunct Professor Peter Dutton to discuss the fast-moving events in the South China Sea and maritime East Asia. They will discuss the conflicting claims to water space, resources, and islands and ask whether international law can be invoked to reduce tensions. Why do states from outside the region care about the South China Sea and the disputes there? Are the disputes and challenges in the East and South China Seas linked?  What is the role of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and might the United States finally become a party to it? And what is the U.S.-Asia Law Institute doing to try to move the region toward a more peaceful dynamic? Read about USALI’s Maritime Dispute Resolution Project here.

About the speaker

Jonathan Odom is a commander in the US Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He is currently military professor of international law at the George C. Marshall Center in Garmisch, Germany. He previously served as military professor of law and maritime security at the Asia-Pacific Studies Center in Honolulu and oceans policy advisor at the Office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington. He received an LLM from Georgetown University, JD from Wake Forest University, and BA in history from Duke University.

About the moderator

Peter Dutton is an adjunct faculty advisor to the U.S.-Asia Law Institute, adjunct professor at NYU School of Law, and professor of strategic studies at the U.S. Naval War College. His research focuses on Chinese views of sovereignty and international law and how those views are shaped by geostrategic and historical factors. He advises senior officials and military leaders across the government and has testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees. Professor Dutton is a retired Navy judge advocate and former naval flight officer. He holds a J.D. from the College of William and Mary and a Ph.D. from King’s College London.