Kenji+&+Ian

= AFF =

=UNCLOST 1AC=

Challenges to US leadership are inevitable – LOST ratification strengthens international institutions that are key to continued strength
It’s been in place for nearly 30 years; nearly 160 countries (plus the AND __tested, we must lead on the seas as well as on land. __
 * Allen, Armitage, and Hamre 11** (Allen, Thad W. [Admiral Thad W. Allen holds a Master of Public Administration degree from George Washington University and a Master’s degree in Mynagement from the MIT Sloan School of Mynagement. He served for four decades in the United States Coast Guard and is now a senior fellow of the RAND Corporation.]. Armitage, Richard L. [Richard L. Armitage graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1967 with the rank of ensign. He was the United States Deputy Secretary of States for five years and is now the president of a consulting firm.]. Hamre, John J. [John J. Hamre earned a B.A. in political science and economics from Augustana College and Ph.D. in 1978 from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He was the Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1997 to 2000 and is now the president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.]. “Odd Myn Out at Sea.” //The New York Times,// April 24th, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04 /25/opinion/25allen.html?_r=0 [accessed July 11th, 2014])//ALepow

Absent the aff rising powers will redefine key components of international law to undermine US naval power
Rogers, 12 – Will, Research Associate at the Center for a New American Security (“Security at Sea: The Case for Ratifying the Law of the Sea Convention,” Center for a New American Security, April 2012, [] //blue) __The U__ nited __S__ tates __should ratify the Law of the Sea Convention__ (LOSC). __To__ __AND__ footing for countering an Iranian anti-access campaign in the Persian Gulf.

Naval power deters great conflict - prevents extinction
Conway et al 7 - General of U.S. Marine Corps and Commandant of the Marine Corps, Admiral of U.S. Navy and Chief of Naval Operations ("A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower", Department of the Navy, United States Marine Corps, United States Coast Guard, []) //Laura T This strategy reaffirms the use of seapower to influence actions and activities at sea and AND ability to retaliate against aggressors conventionally, unconventionally, and with nuclear forces.

Ratification uniquely props up US legitimacy within multilateral institutions- it legitimizes US freedom of navigation and enhances credibility, our ev is reverse causal
Vanecko 11 [Jonathan J. Vanecko, Liutenant CMDR USN at US Naval War College and worked in the pentagon, May 11 2011, “Time to Ratify UNCLOS; A New Twist on an Old Problem,” [], MM] Certainly ratification will place the United States on firm legal standing, but more importantly //AND// that detracts from shaping operations in the South China Sea (SCS).50

Institutional legitimacy is the only way to exercise hegemony to prevent extinction
Kromah 9 (Lamii Moivi Kromah, Department of International Relations University of the Witwatersrand, February 2009, “The Institutional Nature of U.S. Hegemony: Post 9/11”, [] , MM) A final major gain to the United States from the Pax Americana has perhaps been AND American national security is impossible without a broad measure of international security.57

Heg without legitimacy causes violent transitions and economic volatility—voluntary limits on power maintain relative international stability
Griffiths 4 (Martin Griffiths January 2004; Associate Professor and Head of School at School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University (coincidence, as it turns out) “BEYOND THE BUSH DOCTRINE: AMERICAN HEGEMONY AND WORLD ORDER” AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF AMERICAN STUDIES www.anzasa.arts.usyd.edu.au/a.j.a.s/Articles/1_04/Griffiths.pdf‎) __In international relations, an established hegemony helps the cause of international peace in a__ __AND__ __States, far from being a domineering hegemon, was a reluctant superpower.__

And turns are wrong – LOST shores up military power without linking to any of their offense
Patrick 12 - Stewart M. Patrick is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (where he writes the blog The Internationalist) and Director of the Program on International Institutions and Global Governance. (6/10/2012, Stewart, The Atlantic, “(Almost) Everyone Agrees: The U.S. Should Ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty”, [] // SM) __All__ of the __uniformed services__ --and especially the U.S. Navy-- __AND__ U.S. **__military personnel to the jurisdiction of any international court__**__.__

Ratifying the LOST mediates the South China Sea and solves tensions.
Hachigian 12. Nina Hachigian, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress with expertise in National security, U.S. foreign policy, U.S.-China relations, Asia geopolitics. China’s Rise Is A Big Reason to Ratify the Law of the Sea Convention; Center for American Progress. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/china/news/2012/06/12/11698/chinas-rise-is-a-big-reason-to-ratify-the-law-of-the-sea-convention/ MMG. Finally, __the United States will have a stronger hand when it comes to the__ __AND__ ed in the Wall Street Journal this past month asking for Senate ratification.

Specifically, it’s key to US diplomatic credibility – China will comply with LOST if pressured, but only US engagement can do that
Rogers, 12 – Will, Research Associate at the Center for a New American Security (“Security at Sea: The Case for Ratifying the Law of the Sea Convention,” Center for a New American Security, April 2012, [] //blue) Ratifying __LOSC will give the U__ nited __S__ tates added __legitimacy__ as it seeks to defend the AND , including freedom of navigation rights for the U.S. Navy.

That checks Chinese aggression and enhances US credibility in the region
Vanecko 11 [Jonathan J. Vanecko, Liutenant CMDR USN at US Naval War College and worked in the pentagon, May 11 2011, “Time to Ratify UNCLOS; A New Twist on an Old Problem,” [], MM] In order to be prepared to counter specific threats as they arise across the globe AND a global “partnership of maritime nations sharing common goals and values.”67

South China Sea is a hotbed for East Asian Conflict.
Business Insider 6/10 This Map Shows Why The South China Sea Could Lead To The Next World War. []. MMG __T____he South China Sea is a powder keg of territorial claims mixed with oil and__ __AND__ ." __What's still unclear is just how bad things could plausibly get there.__

Extinction- maritime conflict and Chinese aggression escalate to full blown US/China nuclear war
Lowther, 2013 (William, 3/16/13, “Taiwan could spark nuclear war: report,” [], Accessed: 6/27/14 FG) Taiwan is the most likely potential crisis that could trigger a nuclear war between China AND arsenals, such a conflict would be tremendously dangerous and quite possibly devastating.”

Goes nuclear fast
Goldstein, 13 – Avery, David M. Knott Professor of Global Politics and International Relations, Director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China, and Associate Director of the Christopher H. Browne Center for International Politics at the University of Pennsylvania (“First Things First: The Pressing Danger of Crisis Instability in U.S.-China Relations,” International Security, vol. 37, no. 4, Spring 2013, Muse //Red) Two concerns have driven much of the debate about international security in the post- AND
 * __a crisis__**__, compressing the time frame for diplomacy to avert military conflict.__

Rising tensions over the SCS independently kill the US Japan Alliance
Carnegie 4/10. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; a Global Think Tank. Obama’s Quiet Priority in Japan: The East China Sea. []. MMG. __If a conflict did erupt—intentional or accidental, large or small—Japan__ __AND__ __misunderstanding at the highest levels could have serious adverse consequences for the alliance.__

Japan alliance is key to stability – solves democracy, warming, and sustainable development and growth
Campbell 10. Kurt M. Campbell¶ Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs¶ Statement before the House Armed Services Committee¶ Washington, DC. U.S. Department of State. http://www.state.gov/p/eap/rls/rm/2010/07/145191.htm>. MMG __The U.S.-Japan alliance is the cornerstone of our engagement in the__ __AND__ , capable, and better able to work together to address common security concerns

Warming causes extinction
Henderson 5 Hill Henderson March 16th, 2005 Countercurrents.org “Racing To Extinction” [] (MG) There are tragic stories of death and injury every day in all our local papers AND ways of driving, of operating our economies, that don’t risk extinction?

Democracy checks extinction
Diamond, 95 – Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, founding co-editor of the Journal of Democracy, Professor of Political Science and Sociology and Coordinator of the Democracy Program at the the Center on Democracy at Stanford University (Larry, "Promoting Democracy in the 1990s: Actors and instruments, issues and imperatives : a report to the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict", December 1995, June 26th 2010, http://wwics.si.edu/subsites/ccpdc/pubs/di/di.htm) This hardly exhausts the lists of threats to our security and well-being in AND __with its provisions for legality, accountability, popular sovereignty, and openness.__

US ratification of LOST adds credibility to the convention and helps with enforcement- checks Chinese manipulation of treaty
May 12 [Cmdr Bradley May, commander May served more than 14 years as a submarine officer on active duty and in a Reserve capacity. He currently works at Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center Atlantic, June 2012, “Now Hear This: The U.S. Senate Should Ratify UNCLOS,” [], MM] The first draft of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ( AND  assert its role as a global leader and accede to this important treaty.”