Professor Ronald Barston is an international relations specialist in diplomacy and maritime policy. He is a former member of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office,including Law of the Sea negotiations. Other appointments include accredited IMO and CoDirector IMO Maritime Academy,Trieste. He pioneered international training in port state control ship inspection with the International Maritime Bureau and regional maritime safety cooperation in Southeast Asia and Caribbean. He has taught at LSE (IR and Director Marine Policy Programme); King’s College (KCL) ; United States and as an international consultant in Southeast Asia . His publications include The Other Powers ; International Politics Since 1945 ; Modern Diplomacy (5th ed Routledge ) and Diplomatic Methods (Routledge).
Patricia Birnie (1926-2013) was a pioneering international lawyer at a time when the understanding and development of international law relating to the sustainable development of ocean resources and the protection of the environment were in their infancy. She made a major contribution through her writing and teaching. She started her professional interest in the 1970s as a Lecturer and then a Senior Lecturer in public International Law at the University of Edinburgh and later at the London School of Economics. She then went on to set up and be the first Director and Professor of the International Maritime Law Institute in Malta. Her advice was sought by various governments and prominent NGOs. She worked with her coeditor Ronald Barston at LSE in what was a new and major collaboration to promote the study of law of the sea and maritime policy from a modern multidisciplinary perspective.
