Tommy Koh, ambassador-at-large at the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Robert Beckman, professor emeritus at the National University of Singapore

The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea was a revolutionary treaty, says Tommy Koh, ambassador-at-large for Singapore and a key participant in the birth of the convention. Over the course of nine years from 1973, post-colonial states joined with the leading powers to draft a new, modern, and equitable legal order for the world’s oceans. Yet disputes over maritime boundaries still produce armed conflict in many parts of the world, raising questions about the convention’s durability. Ambassador Koh will join ocean law expert Robert Beckman for a conversation about why upholding the convention is in the collective and individual interests of all nations.