Multilateral treaties have become a bedrock of international law, especially since the end of World War II. More than 600 multilateral treaties have been sponsored by the United Nations out of the approximately 8,000 multilateral treaties entered into since World War II. In setting out the parties’ rights and obligations, norms of behavior and dispute resolution mechanisms, carefully written treaties that have buy-in from the member countries can reduce the potential for resort to armed conflict or economic warfare. However, when a party to a multilateral treaty seeks to exploit perceived ambiguities to gain exclusive benefits beyond the intended scope of the underlying treaty, it is risking the legal and moral foundations on which multilateral treaties are based. The compulsory arbitration provisions contained in the treaty known as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provide a case in point.

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