David and Goliath Revisited: A Tale About the Timor Leste/Australia Timor Sea Agreements

Abstract

This Article offers a tale about a dispute over the continental shelf resources of the oil-rich Timor Sea that currently involves a Goliath, Australia, and a David, Timor-Leste. The story includes colonization by a European state, Portugal, an invasion and annexation by a neighbor country, Indonesia, the negotiation of several contentious international treaties, and, more recently, is akin to a John le Carré novel, as it includes espionage, thefts, and imprisonment of whistleblowers. This story is not about the kid-glove diplomacy that usually characterizes relations between states.

Keywords: Oil, East-Timor, Australia, Continental Shelf, International Court of Justice, Arbitration

JEL Classification: K10, K33