Science, geopolitics and the governance of Antarctica

Abstract

International Polar Year 2007–2009 had three predecessors 125, 75 and 50 years ago. These international research efforts were not free from geopolitical interests. In November 2007 the media drew attention to various countries' attempts to extend sovereignty rights over ocean floors on adjacent continental shelves, in response to a UN commission on the delimitation of the continental shelf. Russia, for instance, claimed that the Lomonosov Ridge was part of its landmass, a claim that would extend Russia's seabed by 1