"MacDonald's book innovatingly combines his competence and interest in the fields of international law and Middle East studies. ... The author's selection of Iran and Saudi Arabia .. as case studies, is well-advised. The territorial predominance of these two states on the opposite shores of the Gulf has been conducive to the adoption of legal positions that reflect clusters of their own interests. More important, MacDonald shows that the Iranian and Saudi Arabian legal behavior has been significantly compatible with the emerging norms of the law of the sea. Above all, the author demonstrates that the Iranian and Saudi Arabian legal behavior has in fact contributed to the very development of the law of the sea itself. ... MacDonald's volume contains eight helpful maps, six useful tables and a comprehensive bibliography. ...[Recommended] highly to interested readers and specialists."-International Journal of Middle East Studies
