This is the third volume in the series on “International Straits of the World”, being produced under the auspices of the Centre for the Study of Marine Policy at the University of Delaware. The first two volumes in this series have already been reviewed in this Journal—see [1979] 3 LMCLQ 372–375.

The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean: two-thirds of the world’s oil supplies pass through the Strait, destined principally for Japan, Western Europe and the United States. The Strait is therefore obviously of enormous economic and strategic importance. This is the leitmotive of Professor Ramazani’s account of the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Much of his account is taken up with a discussion of strategic issues in the Gulf and the Middle East, disputes—actual and potential—among Gulf States, and relations between oil producers and consumers. Interesting though all this is, it is given much more extensive treatment than its relevance to the question of straits warrants. Only a small part of the book (about 20 pages) is directly concerned with the issue of straits. This covers a description of the Strait of Hormuz (pp. 1–9) and an account of the reactions of the Gulf States to the work of the UN Conference on the Law of the Sea relating to straits (pp. 80–88). Nothing is said about the present regime governing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, beyond brief mention of the existence of the joint Iran-Oman patrol and an IMCO traffic separation scheme. Since all shipping into and out of the Gulf passes through a channel lying in Oman’s territorial sea, it would—at the very least—have been useful to have had an account of Omani legislation and practice. Does it raise any problems for foreign tankers? It would be interesting to know, especially in view of Oman’s apparent hostility to the concept of transit passage through straits. Is there a difference between Oman’s practice and its rhetoric at the Conference?

The last 35 pages of the book consist of various documentary appendices—the Iran-Oman Joint Patrol, the 1975 Iran-Iraq Boundary Agreement, a selection of Gulf continental shelf boundary agreements and the 1978 Gulf Marine Pollution Convention. Some of these documents have no obvious relevance to the main text.

For anyone interested in the politics of the Gulf, the book makes interesting reading. For those more directly concerned with the issue of straits, the book is bound to be disappointing and sadly lacking in information and analysis about the Strait of Hormuz.