Contemporary challenges to the Antarctic Treaty and Antarctic Treaty System: Australian interests, interplay and the evolution of a regime complex

摘要

In writing and reportage on Antarctica, the unique nature of Antarctic governance is noted, and it is often (and misleadingly) recorded that Antarctic territorial claims have been 'frozen' or 'put on ice'. In searching for or using what is seen as an appropriate metaphor the facts are often and at times conveniently ignored. It is not the claims that have been put on ice but disputes over them. This may be an arcane argument but it emphasises the fact that geopolitics is central to contemporary Antarctica as it was in the first half of the twentieth century. With geopolitics as a core driver the two inter-related areas of research are highlighted. The first centres on the interaction between Antarctic Treaty parties. The second centres on national interests underpinning national activities and programs that drive interaction within what is termed the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS).