Internationalization and Its Limits: The Negotiation of the Antarctic Treaty

• In Event: Left Perspectives on State Socialism II: The USSR and the Creation of Cold War International Spaces

Abstract

This paper examines the role of the Soviet delegations in negotiating the Antarctic Treaty. While the states with claims in Antarctica initially focused on keeping the USSR out of the continent, the International Geophysical Year provided an opportunity for the creation of a large Soviet Antarctic Expedition. Subsequently, a new strategy was adopted which aimed at containing the Soviets through integrating them in the treaty negotiations. During the preparatory meetings, however, the Soviet delegation pursued an obstructive tactic aimed at slowing down the progress. When all of a sudden they changed their attitude, it became possible to agree on a treaty which created a local regime of limited internationalism. In order to explain Soviet Antarctic diplomacy, it is argued here that both the remoteness of the continent and practical benefits facilitated cooperation while securing state interests at the same time.
By analyzing the influence of the USSR on the treaty negotiations in the broader historical context of the Cold War, it will become possible to understand why the treaty eventually came into being and has existed until today – against all odds.

Author

• Elias Angele, U of Bremen (Germany)