______ LOAN DOCUMENT___ PHOTOGRAMWTHISHEET IAWCATIONi A Df TM 1T ON STATEMENT-A N 00P"v-,,d for Public ReleaseD Di tibution UnlimitedD DISTEIBUTON STATE3MEN L DUC 7"C UNAJWO3M~ By AVAILAXIIUTY CDDU MMUM v~AuAAIMM %Md H DATE ACCESSIONED DISTRIUTION A R E 20060707250 DATE RECEIED INDTIC REGISTERED OR CERTIFIE NUMDER PHOTOGRAPH THIS SHEET AND RETURN TO DTIC-JDAC DTIC Pw70A bOOKMM? PIOCZSSD4C lI LOAN DOCUMENT PROTECTING UNITED STATIE•S INTERESTS TN, ANTARCTICA A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL'S SCHOOL, UNITED STATES ARMY The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of The Judge Advocate General's School, the United States Army, or any other governmental agency. Best Available Copy by Captain Ronald W. Scott, JAGC United States Army 36th Judge Advocate Officer Graduate Course April 1988 PEOECTN, C tIN-I ED STATES' IN"ERESTS !IN AbTITICA b- Car-t~ain Ronald W1. Scott.l ABSTR AICT: Th is thes isF- begg ins b-y rpres en-L-r-, -a _o ~raphic. overview of theý physical features arnd reso-urces in Antarctkica and the So'uthnern O-c!ea--n. Nex t. it deta~ilsth hilstLory 0-ct aims.- and interests over Antarctic territory, wih articular emp~hasis on United Staelci~~s Aspects of the United States-irnitiated Antarctic Treat-y re-cimre are then explo,-red, includi*ng- manag,-ement of livingc resojurces and potential e-xrloration and e".ploitation of nonliving hvnoabr nd mineral resourcDes. The thesis Points o--ut past weaknesses in Un-ited States- Antarc-tic D(-Jlicyma~k~jrng and recommends a broader zrole for tlhe. iie'artme.-t- of Defernse7 ina4 ssoia aeya~ scor ~ Th~e thiesis al' r- cmmDd -ha.he AIntar-oL Treaty coinsultati-.ve parties reso~lve the is~sue= o~f o ni 1j, -risdi.-4-.i o-ver ciffer=es --omm-rtued in inaciabe' *~~~~ *ir~r;'~~ a;. e~ . nyed cf4- t i-nI~ F- confrontation over the impending minerals regime. ,Sus-pen-sion of South Africa from consultative status is recommended as' a means of dampening United Nations' opposition to the minerals regime, and of preventing eventual dissolution of the regime over these and other issues. TABLE OF CON, TENTSC; I. ±t.4Lz,0DfUcTIO•. 1 II. CONTINENTAL AND OCEANIC FEATURES AND RESOURCES 2 III. HISTORICAL BASES OF CLAIMS AND INTERESTS 5 IV. THE ANTARCTIC TREATY REGIME 11 A. MANAGEMENT OF LIVING RESOURCES 19 B. ANTARCTIC MINERAL AND HYDROCARBON RE SEO0URCES POL ICY 22 C. THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE QUESTION OF ANTARCTICA 23 D. UNITED STATES ANTARCTIC POLICY 0TOBJECTIVES 33 V. CURRENT ISSUES WITH MILITARY IMPLICATIONS 42 A. DOESTIC POLIY ISS'UES 42 I. How National Policy is Established 42 2. Dimensions of Domestic Problem Areas 44 3. Recommendations Reardin_ L,.Domestic Issues 53 B. INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ANDr, P...ITA•L U-• . VI. CO'CLUSION 8N r',. r IT .L ,., ,-f" 12r.•',•,11 r,L z'-,,, I L m r-1 T• • , . 7,r INTRODUC.T ION The "Queqtion of Antarctica"(1) is one that the world community of.!nalions chose to ignore until the mid-1980s. When it was negotiating a regime to govern the world's ocean space, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)(2) left untouched the. concomitant problems posed by Antarctica and its surrounding Southern Ocean. This omission resulted in part because the likelihood of failure to reach consensus regarding ocean space.in general would have been heightened by their inclusion, and in part because of a general sense of a lack of immediacy to resolve Antarctic issues. Antarctica has been effectively administered by the consultative parties of the United States-initiated Antarctic Treaty system since 1961(3). That regime, for purposes of protection of the environment and its eco- systems and international cooperation in scientific research, is tacitly recognized by the international community as the legitimate administrative power in Antarctica and the Southern OCearn(4). As the advent of a minerals regime that will permi.t- exploitation of the gion's non l givi-'resourf-es draws near, however, th, oLDutside world'• .. r. Unlted Nations, I5 shojwirig increasing interest in partic,:ipa:ting in At 'Darcti affairs. This arti'cle begins with a geographic overview of the region, follo:ed by a summary of histcrical bases for claims and interests. It concludes with the identification of and suggested solutions for select domestic and international problem areas confronting the United States as it strives to continue its traditional leadership role in maintaining the ever-more-fragile Antarctic Treaty system. CONTINENTAL AND OCEANIC FEATURES AND RESOURCES Antarctica is unique among the seven continents in many respects. Its land mass comprises almost one tenth of the earth's land surface, an area nearly one and. one- half times the size of the United States(5). The coldest of all continents(6), Antarctica is covered almost entirely by a one-to-three mile-deep layer of fresh-water ice, giving it the highest continental eievation(7). Because its average annual (water equivalent) precinitation amounts to only a few: inches(B). Antartic a is, irr &c'lc!oic terms. a ,dese-rt. Its cne rivrer, "... ny:,I flo1.... on ,. t- . i •--s and -'hien.. .,_ _L, summirier s ea:}Ioe;tf.i.e" ,n - of r or Iand. vre inhabit, the- "tietlO . Geologists hypothesize that Antarctica was, during the Mesozic Era (,some 100 million years ago), along with Africa, Australia, India, Madagascar, and SOuth America, part of the supercontinent Gondwanaland(1l). Through continental drift, however, Antarctica was eventually isolated in its present location(12). Today, its closest neighboring continent, South America, -lies over six hundred miles away, while the nearest population center, Buenos Aires, is 1,800 miles away from the Antarctic peninsula( 13). Existing and potential Antarctic resources span the widest range. At one extreme, research scientists have used the desolate continent as a standard of comparison for the detection of interplanetary life(14). Antarctica is also the most fertile source on earth for fallen meteorites(15). At the other extreme, and of more pragmatic interest, the continent and its shelf are believed to contain vast mineral deposits, including chromium, coal cobalt, copper, diamonds, gold, iron, manrganese, n-oŽ-iei, uraniurm, and other scarce mineral resounrces( 6. s belieft is su~prlldby rect.tOcc-Urireric.s orsome :triese minerals( 17), and the generai•. :accepted . advancred by pl te te,- toc, •'.ol,_s_.z th-. Arti.ar::t. a. nd its continental shelf share the known mineral deposits found in the 'rest of the former Gondwanaland, including South Africa and South America(18). The continental shelf may also contain natural gas and oil deposits in the magnitude of tens of billions of barrels, a cache roughly on a par with known Iranian oil reserves(19). To date, both the continent and its shelf have not been commercially exploited, because it has been economically and politically unfeasible to extract their bounty. Antarctica's ice is also an important potential resource. The continent contains nearly ninety percent of the world's fresh water(20), which may be the key to * this planet's hydrologic balance in the next century and beyond. In contrast to theoretical continental-based resources, offshore living resources in the Southern Ocean are of known abundance, and are easily harvestable. At the base of the region's ecosystem is the krill, a five centimeter-long shrimp-like crustacean which is the major food source for five species of whales, three types Of seals, tW y h and various bird and cephalopod oc.lains2) :'l ~eso aLbnr1ur.d in the_ Soýuthern S.e.=n h•hat i- is esmimated t•h s-.....abie '_!dz equal to or gr-ater than the tta ri mcurrentmariane c•ato could easily be harvested each year(22). Because it has such a high p rotein content, krill is an invaluable potential source- of human sustenance for developing" nations. Despite its potential benefits to mankind, however, it is universally recognized that uncontrolled depletion of krill would have a devastating and irreparable impact on the food chain in the Southern Ocean. The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources(23) was negotiated and came into force in response to this potential environmental impact. HISTORICAL BASES OF CLAIMS AND INTERESTS More than a decade before the inception of the Antarctic Treaty regime(24), Jessup noted that "a claim with reference to submarine lands and waters adjacent to the Antarctic continent must find basic support in the maintenance of a claim to sovereignty over the land itself. '(25) In spite of the fact that territorial claims are frozen under the Antarctic Treaty regime(26), Jessup's statement h-L-5ight:- the need ti. analye and understand the hitorDca' baý-_-. c' national claims and inrerests when attempt inr to asseSS the current •" " " "~~ •ion. This sc.o e po ti c a I_. u n n - rIr sect-' present-s an overie4 -f national interests, with particular emphasis on United States interests. Antarctica was the last continent. to be discovered. The ancient G~reeks believed that a large land mass existed in the south to counterbalance northern continents(27). Antarctica was first circumnavigated by Captain James Cook in 1772, although the continent itself was not actually sighted until 1320, by one or more of three explorers: Palmer (USA), Bransfield (U. K. ), and Bellingshausen (USSR).(28). The foci of interests in Antarctica in the nineteenth century were whaling and seal hunting in the Southern Ocean. Interest in scientific research developed at the turn of this century. In 1911, Amundsen (Norway) became the first person to reach the geographic South Pole, ahead of Scott (U.