Governing the Antarctic


Book Description

After thirty-five years the regime based on the Antarctic Treaty is more vigorous than ever. Here leading scholars of international law and international relations examine the effectiveness and legitimacy of this regime by asking two questions: are current changes affecting the regime's ability to cope with major problems in the region, and how do those changes affect its standing amongst parties to the Treaty and in the wider international community? Individual chapters deal with the Antarctic regimes for marine living resources, mineral activities, environmental protection, and tourism. Throughout, a keen eye is kept on how those components interact and reinforce each other. This analysis is supported by in-depth studies of compatibility and tension between the Antarctic Treaty System and the international community at large. It also draws upon case studies of how domestic concerns and decision-making in four selected countries affect international co-operation in the Antarctic.




Who Owns Antarctica?


Book Description




Antarctica in International Law


Book Description

Antarctica, one of the world's last great wildernesses, presents special challenges for international law. Fears that Antarctica would become a front in the Cold War catalysed agreement on the 1959 Antarctic Treaty which neither legitimised nor challenged the existing sovereign claims to the continent. The unique Antarctic Treaty System has provided the foundation for peaceful, harmonious and effective governance. There are, however, new anxieties about the frozen continent and the Southern Ocean. Antarctica already feels the effects of climate change and ocean acidification. Claimant states assert rights to the Antarctic continental shelf and interest in Antarctic resources grows. Tourism brings new environmental and safety risks. China and other powers are increasing their activities, with some questioning the consensus of the 'Antarctic club'. Security concerns are increasingly discussed, despite Antarctica's dedication to peaceful purposes. This book brings together the main primary international materials concerning the regulation and governance of Antarctica, including multilateral and bilateral treaties, United Nations materials, 'soft laws' and judicial decisions. It covers the spectrum of Antarctic issues from environmental protection to scientific cooperation to tourism. As it shows, Antarctic law has constantly adapted to meet new challenges and is a sophisticated, inclusive, dynamic and responsive regime.




Science and Stewardship in the Antarctic


Book Description

With the negotiation of the International Protocol on Environmental Protection in 1991, those nations conducting scientific research programs in Antarctica face new challenges for stewardship of the southern continent and protection of its environment. Science and Stewardship in the Antarctic examines how the implementation of the 1991 agreement in the United States can be done in such a way to ensure the compatibility of scientific and environmental protection goals in this global laboratory. The book also addresses the potential for the new requirements both to benefit and harm research activities in Antarctica.




Governing Antarctica


Book Description




The Technocratic Antarctic


Book Description

The Technocratic Antarctic is an ethnographic account of the scientists and policymakers who work on Antarctica. In a place with no indigenous people, Antarctic scientists and policymakers use expertise as their primary model of governance. Scientific research and policymaking are practices that inform each other, and the Antarctic environment—with its striking beauty, dramatic human and animal lives, and specter of global climate change—not only informs science and policy but also lends Antarctic environmentalism a particularly technocratic patina. Jessica O’Reilly conducted most of her research for this book in New Zealand, home of the "Antarctic Gateway" city of Christchurch, and on an expedition to Windless Bight, Antarctica, with the New Zealand Antarctic Program. O’Reilly also follows the journeys Antarctic scientists and policymakers take to temporarily "Antarctic" places such as science conferences, policy workshops, and the international Antarctic Treaty meetings in Scotland, Australia, and India. Competing claims of nationalism, scientific disciplines, field experiences, and personal relationships among Antarctic environmental managers disrupt the idea of a utopian epistemic community. O’Reilly focuses on what emerges in Antarctica among the complicated and hybrid forms of science, sociality, politics, and national membership found there. The Technocratic Antarctic unfolds the historical, political, and moral contexts that shape experiences of and decisions about the Antarctic environment.




Handbook on the Politics of Antarctica


Book Description

The Antarctic and Southern Ocean are hotspots for contemporary endeavours to oversee 'the last frontier' of the Earth. The Handbook on the Politics of Antarctica offers a wide-ranging and comprehensive overview of the governance, geopolitics, international law, cultural studies and history of the region. Four thematic sections take readers from the earliest human encounters to contemporary resource exploitation and climate change. Written by leading experts, the Handbook brings together the very best interdisciplinary social science and humanities scholarship on the Antarctic and Southern Ocean.




Governing the Frozen Commons


Book Description

This volume examines the Antarctic Treaty System as a complex legal regime for managing resource activities in the Antarctic and assesses what innovative legal arrangements might be needed to regulate future political and economic developments there.




Governing Antarctica


Book Description




Who Saved Antarctica?


Book Description

This book provides a diplomatic history of a turning point in Antarctic governance: the 1991 adoption of comprehensive environmental protection obligations for an entire continent, which prohibited mining. Solving the mining issue became a symbol of finding diplomatic consensus. The book combines historiographic concepts of contingency, conjuncture and accidental events with theories of structural, entrepreneurial and intellectual leadership. Drawing on archival documents, it shows that Antarctic governance is more adaptive than some imagine, and policy success depends on the interplay of normative practices, serendipitous events, public engagement and influential players able to exploit those circumstances. Ultimately, the events revealed in this book show that the protection of the Antarctic Treaty itself remains as important as protecting the Antarctic environment.