Antarctica: geopolitical and economic importance

The word Antarctica derives from the Greek terms anti (the opposite of) and arktos (the bear). It is surrounded by South Africa, Australia and South America, and is surrounded by the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans.[1] The term Antarctica is also used in the Antarctic.

On the other hand, the term Antarctic also includes the maritime regions, "whose external limit is found in the Antarctic Convergence, a circumpolar line of encounter between the polar waters, of lower temperature and higher density, and the less dense and more temperate waters of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans", according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of the Republic of Argentina. Furthermore, Antarctica covers an area of nearly 14,000,000 km² and only 1% of this territory is ice-free. For this reason, it is considered to be the coldest and driest continent, with the largest freshwater reserve in the world.[2] In order to analyse the importance of this geographic space, the Antarctic is the most important one in the world.

In order to analyse the importance of this geographical space, the following division will be made; however, in practice, they function in an interconnected manner:

Sovereign Claims and the Antarctic Treaty System. In the international context, state governments claim recognition of possession over certain territorial spaces, within the framework established by public international law and international agreements. In this sense, Argentina establishes its sovereignty over the so-called "Argentine Antarctic Sector", determined by the 60º S parallel and the South Pole, and the 25th and 74th meridians of west longitude.

Argentina was the first country to establish a permanent base, declaring its sovereignty in 1904. In this way, the Orcadas base is the longest-running Antarctic scientific station in the region.

This historical claim is joined by Chile, Great Britain (both countries dispute part or all of the territory claimed by Argentina), France, Australia, New Zealand and Norway. The last four countries do not have overlapping claims in terms of area. This scenario can be seen in the graph below:

Klaus Dodds pointed out that, under the rules of international law, only if occupation was proven can sovereignty be claimed.[3] Furthermore, María Salazar Urrutia mentions that Chile and Argentina possess all the historical, geographical and legal rights to claim sovereignty over the continent, according to the sources of international law. However, the Antarctic Treaty imposed on them a political regime of international governance that obliged them to define strategies and policies in a double dimension: "as protectors of their sovereign rights on the continent and as promoters of cooperation, governance and multilateralism with other members of the system", she said.[4] It is worth mentioning that 35 other countries made claims to sovereignty over the continent in the Antarctic Treaty.

It is worth mentioning that 35 other countries have made claims, such as Germany, Brazil, China, the United States, India and Russia, among others, which have permanent bases on the white continent, in a space that has so far remained unclaimed. In this sense, the semi-open nature of the treaty established that the twelve signatory countries accepted the systematic participation of other non-state actors in the method of governance, which currently has 54 member states, as well as other non-governmental organisations.

The Antarctic Treaty System. In order to safeguard freedom of scientific research and international cooperation, the Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by Argentina, Australia, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, the United States and the former Soviet Union. This document establishes other aspects such as:

- No new claims to sovereignty in Antarctica shall be made while it is in force, nor shall existing ones be extended.
- The treaty safeguards the position of the claimant states and establishes a link with the regions that maintain their claims.
- Countries party to the treaty have the right to conduct inspections of other states' Antarctic installations (bases, equipment, ships and aircraft).
- The conduct of nuclear tests and radioactive waste in Antarctica is prohibited, as is the conduct of any activity of a military nature. The exception is logistical support provided for scientific research work, among others, for peaceful purposes.
- As can be seen, the Antarctic Treaty stopped the sovereign claims and disputes of the claimant countries in the framework of the Cold War and, in its place, built a set of legal and political norms that guarantee global governance for peaceful and scientific purposes. It also added other conventions that form the Antarctic Treaty system, such as:
- Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty on Environmental Protection (Madrid, 1991).
- Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (London, 1988).
- Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (Canberra, 1980).

It is worth mentioning the thinking on globalisation and the formation of political structures that establish worldwide links defined by Modelski, who argues that organisation at the international level evolves over time, through global politics conceived as a higher-order learning process composed of a long cycle.

It is also a process of globalisation that creates political institutions of worldwide scope, which is why the aforementioned treaty and the new structure of political globalisation provisionally (or perhaps not) came to overcome sovereign claims over the Antarctic continent.[5] For its part, Argentina - by being part of the Antarctic Treaty - had a voice and a vote in international agreements and in the conduct of scientific research.

Geo-economic and environmental relevance. An important geographical detail is the strategic role played by the Antarctic Peninsula, as it is the only option for access to the continent, regardless of the climatic conditions that may arise. As a result, this area takes on greater importance for the claimant countries and for those who -through alliances with them- intend to increase their presence, such as the Sino-Argentine agreement. At the same time, the proximity of the Southern Cone countries should be considered in terms of logistics and infrastructure, such as the supply of food, fuel, salvage, campaigns, to name but a few.

With regard to the economic resources of the polar continental mass and the waters of the "Southern Ocean", [6] Jaime Sepúlveda Cox made the following classification and analysis of these resources:

Renewable