Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
where there has never been war. Other than occasional arguments among scientists and
those stationed there over weighty matters having to do with sports, entertainment, and sci-
ence, there has been very little conflict.
It is a land where science is the universal language and the highest priority and where
people from different regions, ra was mixed. On the one hand, theH on 1 December
1959ces, and religions live and work together in one of the planet's most remote, beautiful,
and dangerous places.
The genius of the Antarctic Treaty lies in its relevance today.
Most commentators reflecting on the Antarctic Treaty's 50th anniversary (either 2009 or
2011 depending on signing or entry into force respectively) concluded that this was an ex-
ample of 'good governance'. The parties, on this assessment, continue to respect the spirit
and content of the treaty and its associated legal instruments while maintaining a sense of
accountability, openness, and a capacity to innovate in a positive sense.
In this chapter, we consider the last 50 years and reflect on how the Antarctic Treaty Con-
sultative Parties worked to create an evolving international institutional and regime-based
structure, with the aim of strengthening the original treaty. The Antarctic Treaty represents
one of the most successful experiments in regional governance, albeit one in which there
was no indigenous human population to contend with. Moreover, the geographical and
political remoteness of the Antarctic in the 1950s and 1960s in particular aided and abet-
ted those determined to make the Antarctic Treaty 'work'. When challenges did emerge in
the 1970s and 1980s, the parties in question had, in effect, an invented tradition of regional
governance to draw upon to not only resist critics but also advocate reform of the Antarctic
Treaty System in areas such as membership, information exchange, as well as legal instru-
ments such as the Protocol on Environmental Protection. Critically, this Protocol prohibits
all form of mining and mineral exploitation, thus mollifying those who thought that the
treaty parties were hell-bent on dividing the resource riches of the Antarctic. More recently,
notwithstanding the introduction of a secretariat in 2001, there has been less willingness to
negotiate new protocols for issues of growing concern such as biological prospecting and
tourism. The latter may become more troubling in the future and thus demand closer atten-
tion from the treaty parties.
The Antarctic Treaty and its entry into force
With the entry into force of the Antarctic Treaty in June 1961, the governance of the
Antarctic entered into a new stage.
