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Considerable Values in Antarctica
This article examines the continuing effect within and upon the contemporary Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) of the foundational values of that system. The ATS arose in response to particular historical contingencies, which resulted in the containment without resolution of territorial sovereignty, the regional de-fanging of Cold War antipathies, and the centrality of scientific activity. In Antarctica today we are trying to find a way to accommodate a number of different interests, including: global justice and equity; resource and geopolitical interests of states able to operate there; territorial aspirations of the seven claimant and two ?semi-claimant? states; the need to protect the Antarctic environment; continuing interest in Antarctica as a global laboratory; commercial interests in marine harvesting, tourism, bioprospecting and (notwithstanding the present prohibition) mineral resource activities in the medium term. The values which have been granted considerability within the ATS continue to shape the Antarctic regime today, and the Antarctic future will depend upon the sorts of values that can gain a hearing within this system.
Hemmings, A. D. Considerable Values in Antarctica. (2012) The Polar Journal, 2(1), 139-156