The chapter explores the phenomenon of ocean-to-land globalization, a shift in global production that increasingly relocates industrial activities to aquatic surfaces while consumption remains land-based. It argues that advances in radiocommunication and radionavigation technologies since the mid-twentieth century were critical enablers of this transformation. By dramatically reducing communication and transport costs, these technologies removed the geo-ontological association of marine regions as remote peripheries to terrestrial centers of production. From a cybernetic viewpoint, extending human audiovisual senses through radiocommunication and radionavigation technologies—including radio telegraphs, radiophones, communication satellites, Decca, or GPS—enabled offshore production sites—such as oil rigs, salmon farms, and rocket launch platforms—to function similarly to terrestrial centers. The post-WWII civilian proliferation of such technologies was the essential enabler for reconceptualizing industrialized marine regions and their artificial islands as inhabited spaces and as new production centers in ocean-to-land globalization.

To fulfil its mission, a spacecraft needs to know where it is and how fast it is moving. This is the goal of navigation. Here we look first at how navigation is done for spacecraft in the solar system, using internal measurements as well as artificial signals sent from the Earth acting as navigation beacons. The latter has some relation to the concept of global navigation satellite systems such as GPS, which we also take a brief look at. At interstellar distances, signals from the Earth would be too weak and take too long to arrive, so interstellar spacecraft will have to navigate autonomously. We will see how this can be done using measurements of the positions or radial velocities of stars, by exploiting aberration and parallax, or by timing pulses from neutron stars.

In this chapter, early efforts at legal codification relevant to submarines are seen in the work of learned societies, such as the Institut de Droit International and the International Law Association, as well as in discussions leading to the conventions adopted at the two Hague Peace Conferences. However, submarines were not specifically addressed but fell within a category of belligerent warships; an early proposal to ban submarines as weapons being unsuccessful. Discussions at this time concerned passage in territorial waters and straits, and particularly the rights and duties of belligerents and neutrals. International law on navigational rights in territorial waters was unsettled as World War I began. The critical role of submarines during World War I prompted States to adopt laws that specifically addressed submarines, including requirements to surface in the territorial sea. The chapter reflects on these emergent laws regulating submarines in both times of war and peace.

In this chapter, we assess the international law regulation of the newest forms of submarines, underwater maritime autonomous vehicles (UMAVs) and ask what changes for States’ rights and duties when an autonomous vehicle operates uncrewed and underwater. A core issue has been whether UMAVs are ships or not and we address differences emerging for floats and gliders particularly. Whether uncrewed submarines are ships or not has implications for navigational rights and duties. We also consider questions emerging under the law of armed conflict and distinctions for autonomous maritime systems (such as mines and torpedos). While State-owned and operated UMAVs are a primary focus, we also consider the international laws applying to the use of UMAVs by terrorists or criminals seeking to smuggle goods. This chapter concludes Part II of the book and brings together the key questions that remain to be answered in regulating submarines in international law.

Ships rely on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), like the NAVSTAR Global Positioning Systems (GPS), for safe navigation and precise Position, Navigation, and Time (PNT). Based on satellite input, PNT enable shipboard receivers to determine location with precision. As a primary PNT source, GNSS must be accurate and protected from manipulation to ensure safe ship operations. While some GNSS interference is unintentional, threat from State and non-state actors persist. Over the past 20 years, cyberattacks on international shipping by rogue States like China, Iran, and Russia and state-sponsored hackers have increased, threatening maritime safety by disrupting navigation and communication equipment. The proliferation of GNSS interference poses a strategic threat, to global navigation safety, civilian finances, logistics, and communication. This chapter discusses GNSS threats and how States can mitigate jamming and spoofing. It examines efforts by the International Maritime Organization and shipping industry to address these threats and review United States measures to protect its maritime transportation system from cyberattacks. No single solution addresses all GNSS vulnerabilities but combining alternatives can augment GNSS and ensure resilience for critical maritime PNT operations. Regular risk assessments identify vulnerabilities and prioritize mitigation. A clear incident response plan supports cyberattacks, minimizing damage, and expedite recovery.

For Sultan Alau’ddin, the ruler of Gowa on South Sulawesi between 1596 and 1639, the freedom of the seas was paramount. His kingdom, centred on the city of Makassar, was ideally situated as a maritime crossroads between the Java Sea and the spice islands of Maluku. International traders, including Chinese, Malay, and European ships, frequented Makassar’s harbour, profiting from the policies of open navigation sanctioned by the sultan. Yet in 1615, another maritime power that recently had become active in the area, the Dutch East India Company (VOC), sought to undermine Makassar’s position by establishing a monopoly on the spice trade. When the conflict escalated, Sultan Alau’ddin sent a message to the Company’s governor-general and strongly repudiated Dutch attempts to restrict navigation and trade in the area: ‘God made the land and the sea; the land He divided among men and the sea He gave in common.

Chapter 3 argues that Tokugawa Japan exerted an important influence on the way global geographers mapped and conceptualized what is known today as “the Pacific.” It shows how the ocean has been the object of diverging metageographical categorizations in different cultural and political contexts in Japan, Asia, and Oceania. Over the Tokugawa period, its meanings changed radically in Japan. In fact, even decades after the issue of maritime prohibitions, in 1675, the Tokugawa shogunate successfully explored and mapped the then-uninhabited Bonin Islands. For Japanese intellectuals, the subsequent “discovery” of the Pacific coincided with an intellectual emancipation from the continent, as Hayashi Shihei’s late-eighteenth century works illustrate. Concepts and geographical data created in the process were highly classified, yet they were among the first Japanese texts to be translated in Europe in the early nineteenth century, where they entered globalizing geographical discourses. Like the malleable category of Nan’yō or “the South Sea,” some metageographical categories remained politically distinct until the twentieth century.

Neurosurgery has always been at the forefront of adopting innovative technologies and this may easily be explained by the unique demands imposed on surgeons when operating in the brain and spine. Augmented reality (AR) has emerged as a promising technology in neurosurgery, aiming to link the digital and physical worlds to enhance clinical practice and education. This review explores the evolution of AR in neurosurgery, from a modest optical technology inception to a digitally enhanced plethora of mixed reality media, and how widespread adoption has been hindered by technical limitations. Various approaches to displaying AR as well as requirements for future-proof patient digital models are discussed. Challenges associated with updating models intra-operatively and the need for precise tracking of the physical environment are also reviewed. The chapter concludes with the authors’ vision for overcoming these technical hurdles, which will be essential for realizing the full potential of AR in neurosurgical practice.

In this period, states strove for more control over their international trade routes. However, this was a matter of ideology and planning rather than a reality. Trades were still mainly supervised by chartered companies. States increasingly aimed to restrict exports of their colonial goods to other countries. However, their ‘mercantilist’ approaches did not yield the results that were expected. In attempts to reduce smuggling, private trade became acknowledged more. An aim of consolidating and perfecting colonial trade had more impact in Asia than in the Caribbean. There, geopolitical contexts as well as features of crops precluded strict control. Compared to the previous period, international trade law consisted mostly of treaty law. Some clauses, such as the most-favoured-nation clause, could be opted for in many treaties. Legal borrowing happened, for example, with regard to governance structures in colonial territories, but there was no harmonised law of international trade. Domestic legislation was combined with treaties. Ius gentium doctrine mainly focused on a right of trade. In the later eighteenth century, views of this type were combined with ideas of self-reliance of the economy. Over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, financial markets had become a factor that policy-makers had to take into account. Because of the growing intertwining of state finance, colonial trade and speculation at stock markets, the risk of bubbles rose.

In the period of the Renaissance, trade became a matter of legislation and policy. Municipal governments and princes aimed to facilitate trade. International trade relations became increasingly supervised by states. This came in tandem with more treaties. From the middle of the fifteenth century onwards, specialized institutions were created and they increased control over foreign merchants. As a result of growing government intervention, the rules relating to trade were found in bylaws, charters and statutes. Besides those there were customs of trade, which were mostly local. New mercantile techniques, becoming widespread in this period, were maritime insurance, bills of exchange and partnerships of merchants. Insolvency became regulated in the sixteenth century. From the 1500s onwards, rights of hospitality for traders and a right of trade were developed in ius gentium writings. However, due to the mostly local customs and legislation, trade across European countries was far from harmonised. Gerald Malynes proposed a universal custom of trade, but he struggled with the combination of ius gentium ideas with the more factual customs of trade. His views nonetheless laid the basis for later categorisations of commercial law as being customary and transnational.