Antarctica, Latin America, and the International System in the 1980s: Toward a New Antarctic Order?

• Published in: Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs
• Main Author: Moneta, Carlos J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1981
• Subjects: Geography, Planning and Development; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Norway; New Zealand; Argentina; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/165542; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022193700009172

The Antarctic Treaty was signed by twelve countries in 1959. This group, together with those countries having territorial claims prior to signing the treaty—Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom—would try with great difficulty to reconcile the opposing interests of (1) countries that for decades had been actively defending their claims of sovereignty over sectors of Antarctica; (2) superpowers that, while not asserting any claims of their own—although certainly reserving the right to do so in the future—did not accept those of other countries; and (3) a number of countries that had been invited to participate in the treaty because they had been active in Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year.