An international environmental regime for the Antarctic

Critical investigations

Bibliographic Data

ID9222829
AuthorsCornelis van der Lugt (Stellenbosch University, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume33
Issue186
Pages223-238
Publication date1997-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolar Record (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-2474 • E-ISSN: 1475-3057
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0032247400014704
OpenAlexW2127093887
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited89

Since the late 1970s, theorists in the field of international relations have increasingly used the concept ‘international regime’ in their attempts to give content to the idea of international governance. The concept was adopted from international lawyers, and this has led to some confusion when analysts apply terminology differently. Analysis of Antarctic politics is no exception. This article seeks to illustrate how the theory of international regimes can be applied to the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). The focus is on the events of the 1980s, during which international awareness (or perception) of a global environmental crisis severely tested the robustness of ‘the Antarctic regime’ (that is, the ATS). Three approaches to regime formation and change or transformation are considered in an attempt to explain the rejection of the Convention for the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities and the acceptance of the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. The three approaches employed are game theory, functional theories, and cognitive explanations. The evolution of a new epistemic consensus on the value and the future of the Antarctic crystallises, signifying a key role on the part of natural scientists and environmental non-governmental organisations. It is concluded that the ATS as a whole can today be described as an international environmental regime

Antarctic treaty · Convention · Corporate governance · Economics · Environmental ethics · Environmental governance · International regime · International relations · Law and economics · Management · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Terminology · Treaty · Arctic and Russian Policy Studies · International Maritime Law Issues · Law · Polar Research and Ecology

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