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Summary
After the series of International Court Decisions in 1979 and 1984 in the case concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary in the gulf of Maine area, the United Sates and Canada were left with a problem of a disputed territory that has still not been solved. The disputed territory which is often called the
“gray zone” includes two islands - Machias Seal Island and North Rock (Collins & Rogoff, 1986). The continental shelf and exclusive fisheries zones have remained undivided. There are still up to today overlapping claims of jurisdiction by the United States and Canada related to the 1984 Gulf of Maine boundary decision. The disputed zone is a rich …show more content…
The Arctic border dispute between Canada an the United Sates has been overshadowing the Gulf Of Maine issue for more than a decade. The territorial claims in the energy-rich Beaufort Sea are currently the hottest topic in bilateral relations. The Arctic became a geopolitical and geostrategic region with abundant energy-related resources. In contrast, the gray zone in the Gulf of Maine offers only limited resources and less strategical significance and has therefore received less political attention (The lobster wars - The Economist. 2007) Lack of political will on the federal level to find a compromise in the Gulf of
Maine might be connected with strategical goals in the Arctic region. The Canadian political representation has been arguing with the moral imperative to protect the fragile Arctic environment; however, this imperative was often seen as a first attempt to control the arctic region. The American administration presents a strong opposition to the Canadian attitude in the Arctic. The US administration “invariably sees an insurmountable obstacle to any change in the U.S. Position that recognizing Canada’s claim