The Emerging Politics Of Antarctica

This book examines the post-Cold War challenges facing Antarctic governance. It seeks to understand the interests of new players in Antarctic affairs such as China, India, Korea and Malaysia, and how other key players such as Russia and the USA or claimant states such as New Zealand or France are coping in the new global order. Antarctica is the world's fifth largest continent and its territories are claimed by seven different states. Since 1961 Antarctica has been managed under the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), a regime which, according to its critics, by the terms of its membership effectively excludes most of the nations of the world. This book examines the post-Cold War challenges facing Antarctic governance, and is organized thematically into three sections: Part 1considers the role of Antarctic politics in the current post-Cold War, post-colonial era and the impact this new political environment is having on the ATS. Part 2looks at the competing foreign policy objectives of a representative range of countries with Antarctic activities. Part 3examines issues that have the potential to destabilise the order of the Antarctic Treaty System, such as unrestricted tourism and new advances in science and technology. The Emerging Politics of Antarcticawill be of interest to students and scholars of international politics, polar studies and foreign policy studies.

First published in 1986, this book considers the nature of international interest in Antarctica and the positions of those involved. It looks at the significance of the historical dimension, the development of the treaty system, the management of marine and mineral resources, the role of the United Nations and the impact of such non-governmental organisations as Greenpeace International. The Antarctic implications of the Falklands War of 1982 are also discussed, as well as the underlying relationship between America and the Soviet Union during the 1980s. With a truly international scope, this reissue will be of particular relevance to students with an interest in the political, legal, economic and environmental concerns surrounding the Antarctic region, both in the present and historically.

Antarcticness joins disciplines, communication approaches and ideas to explore meanings and depictions of Antarctica. Personal and professional words in poetry and prose, plus images, present and represent Antarctica, as presumed and as imagined, alongside what is experienced around the continent and by those watching from afar. These understandings explain how the Antarctic is viewed and managed while identifying aspects which should be more prominent in policy and practice. The authors and artists place Antarctica, and the perceptions and knowledge through Antarcticness, within inspirations and imaginations, without losing sight of the multiple interests pushing the continent’s governance as it goes through rapid political and environmental changes. Given the diversity and disparity of the influences and changes, the book’s contributions connect to provide a more coherent and encompassing perspective of how society views Antarctica, scientifically and artistically, and what the continent provides and could provide politically, culturally and environmentally. Offering original research, art and interpretations of different experiences and explorations of Antarctica, explanations meld with narratives while academic analyses overlap with first-hand experiences of what Antarctica does and does not – could and could not – bring to the world.

An examination of marine pollution relative to questions of national sovereignty and pollution control. Also management of Antarctic resources is examined from legal, political, economic, environmental and scientific perspectives. Gives an up to date (1981) review of the political complexities of the Antarctic and the weaknesses of the region's system of governance under the Antarctic treaty.

Originally published in 1984. Antarctica can no longer be considered merely a highly specialized area of interest to a relative handful of explorers and scientists. World political leaders who, in an era of resource politics, are looking to potential sources of supplies of living and non-living resources. Antarctica may prove to be a source of such supplies. In this volume, Dr. Westermeyer’s study of the options available for a mineral regime and probable costs comes at an opportune time, helping participants understand the issues and find acceptable solutions.

Arguing that Antarctica is the most mediated place on earth and thus an ideal location for testing the limits of bio-political management of population and place, this book remaps national and postcolonial methods and offers a new look on a 'forgotten' continent now the focus of ecological concern.

Recent controversies over the political and environmental management of the Antarctic ensure that it will remain an important global issue. Drawing on recent developments in critical geopolitics and cultural geography, Klaus Dodds examines the six major nations of the Southern hemisphere currently involved in the Antarctic. Each of these nations - Argentina, Australia, Chile, India, New Zealand and South Africa - claims a 'natural' interest in the future of the polar continent. Geopolitics in Antarctica presents a detailed exploration of the rhetoric and politics behind each of these claims, arguing that they are often based on uncritical understandings of territory, geographical proximity and national identity. The book concludes with an examination of how geographical understandings of the Antarctic continue to influence the management of the frozen continent and Southern Ocean.

This book focuses on the connection between Brazil and Antarctica, two regions that can be seen as distant and contrasting, but are physically, culturally and politically associated. Relying on archival material and previous literature, the book offers a thorough account of Brazil’s involvement with one of the most significant regions in the global environment. The author explores the place of Antarctica in geopolitical works and in the first initiatives involving Brazil and the continent, from the rise of geopolitical thought in Brazil in the 1930s up to the present day. He argues that the connection between Brazil and Antarctica is not without its difficulties, but it has been structured in many enduring ways. The book covers causes for the delay and eventual adoption of a now active foreign policy regarding the region, the policy’s early performance in Antarctica, its evolution as a consequence of domestic and international changes, the increasing interest in the environment, and further recent developments.