Radioactive Waste Disposal at Sea: Public Ideas ... - IMO

5
Ocean Dumping and U.S Domestic Politics:
Power-Based Regime Analysis
Realists (and neoliberals) suspect that the United States constructed the
global ocean dumping regime so as to use it to realize its environmental
objectives—at the expense of other states, when that was necessary. They
see the regime as closely mirroring the United States’ environmental interests.
Realists view the global ocean dumping regime as perhaps satisfying
other foreign policy objectives of the United States, such as improving its
bargaining position in international trade or strengthening an international
organization facilitating cooperation. These foreign policy objectives are
not intrinsically or primarily related to the solution of environmental problems.
A 1970 U.S. administration study report suggested: “International
cooperation on the environment may be deliberately undertaken and
encouraged for the purpose of strengthening an international organization
that serves U.S. interests, revitalizing it, and/or to increase its capability to
bring nations together. Sometimes the primary aim is a more specific political
objective such as enhancing the United States’ image abroad or improving
our bargaining position in international trade. In these cases, the
improvement of environmental quality is a secondary consideration even
though the desirability of that end is acknowledged and the need for joint
action to control pollution is recognized.” 1 These theorists assume that the
United States dictated the terms of the regime to other states through a combination
of coercion, co-optation, and manipulation of incentives.
In order to assess the realist approach to regime formation, this chapter
examines the formulation of U.S. domestic policy, influential politicians’
perception of the ocean dumping problem, Congress’s support of legislation,
and the economic implications of U.S. domestic ocean dumping regulation.
Contrary to realist propositions about the crucial weight states and