Defending Freedom of the Seas
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By David F. Lasseter
July 07, 2020
June was National Ocean Month for the United States, a time to reflect on the economic, national security, and environmental impacts of the world’s oceans on our country. Throughout our nation's history, the oceans have served to protect our shores and facilitate our economic prosperity. Because our national identity, wealth, and security are so inextricably linked to the oceans, safeguarding the freedom of the seas has been a long-standing imperative for the United States. Protecting it, as well as its guarantee under customary international law, is as important today as it was in the early days of the Republic.
In a 1941 fireside chat, President Franklin D. Roosevelt assured the American people, “Generation after generation, America has battled for the general policy of the freedom of the seas.†Presidents from both parties have reaffirmed this policy into the modern era. The current National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy identify open and free access to common domains as critical to the United States’ national security, but freedom of the seas affects all nations.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2020/07/07/defending_freedom_of_the_seas_115445.html
