The Future of Antarctica: Sam Bateman's Contribution to Antarctic Geopolitics

• Main Authors: Haward, M, McGee, J, Press, AJ
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Koninklijke Brill 2023
• Subjects: Human Society; Political science; International relations; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://brill.com/display/book/9789004532847/BP000015.xml; https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004532847_013; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/155113

Sam Batemans deep interest in security and the law of the sea inevitably ledhim to consider the geopolitical context of the vast region to Australias south,Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. After all, the Antarctic Treaty System(ATS) provides a security and governance framework to Australias south thathas directly impacted Australias defence posture, resource security, and itsstatus as an Antarctic claimant state. Born from the tensions of the Cold War,the 1959 Antarctic Treaty,1 sets aside international argument over Antarcticsovereignty claims through the provisions of Article iv, that both protects thestatus of the seven sovereignty claims and provides accommodation for thosestates not recognising them. For Australia, this was a key feature of the treaty.2The non-militarisation provisions of the treaty are also integral to Australiasnational security (see below), allowing Australia to focus its defence assetson northern regions of greater security threat. With close colleague AnthonyBergin, Sam was one of the Australian few academic commentators on theAntarctic and the Southern Ocean who approached the issue through the lensof strategic studies. Recognising the rise in the capabilities of remote satelliteand ocean technologies, as well as global drivers such as resource and foodsecurity, Sam began to look at implications of changing security environmentfor the Antarctic.