Recently, the 46th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) concluded in Cochin, India. On the eve of this meeting, the White House issued a new version of the "National Security Memorandum on US Antarctic Regional Policy" (NSM-23), which is the first time in 30 years that the United States has updated its Antarctic strategy after the Clinton administration issued the "US Arctic and Antarctic Regional Policy" (NSC-26) in 1994. On the whole, the new version of the Antarctic strategy continues the previous position and proposition of the United States on Antarctica, but it also presents new characteristics.
The introduction of the new Antarctic strategy reflects that the US government still attaches great importance to its position as a leader in Antarctic affairs and hopes to influence the development trend of Antarctic governance.
The "Three Changes" of the U.S. Antarctic Strategy
Enhance Antarctica's position in national strategies. With global warming and technological advancements, Antarctic development is gradually becoming a reality, and the importance of Antarctica in the national interests of the United States continues to rise. Instead of the old version, which combined the Arctic and Antarctic in the same document, the new strategy is published separately in the form of a national security memorandum, with a much larger length and more detailed content. The new version of the strategy clarifies that the United States has major national interests and deep historical ties in Antarctica, and reflects the great importance that the United States attaches to the Antarctic region.
Clarify the position of Antarctic sovereignty. Since the 20s of the 20th century, the United States has repeatedly stated that it does not recognize the territorial sovereignty claims of other countries in the Antarctic region. But the United States, which considers itself the true discoverer of Antarctica, retains the right to claim territorial sovereignty over Antarctica. Although this position has been consistently adhered to by the United States in the Antarctic region, it was not mentioned in the old strategy. The new version of the strategy fills this gap, stating that "the United States reaffirms its firm position that it does not recognize claims of sovereignty and reserves all its rights under the Antarctic Treaty throughout the Antarctic region."
Focus on Antarctic ecological issues. In the face of the increasingly severe global ecological and environmental crisis, the protection of Antarctic ecology has become the starting point for scientific exploration, development and utilization of Antarctica, and has also become a part of countries to strengthen their substantive existence, carry out geopolitical games, and promote Antarctic interests. In this context, the new version of the strategy pays special attention to the important role of Antarctica in the global climate system, emphasizing that climate change may cause problems such as ice sheet collapse, sea level rise, ozone layer hole, and biodiversity destruction, and hopes to strengthen climate change cooperation through the Antarctic window. In addition, the new version of the strategy regards marine protected areas as an important tool for the protection of Antarctic marine living resources and ecosystems, and strongly advocates the establishment of Antarctic marine protected areas.
The "Three Constants" of the U.S. Antarctic Strategy
Continuation of the basic objectives of the Antarctic policy. Compared with the 1994 Antarctic Strategy, the new version of the policy objectives has only slightly changed the wording, and still focuses on Antarctic environmental protection, scientific research, peaceful cooperation, and biological resources, which is in line with the consistent policy considerations of the United States in the Antarctic region. The new version of the Antarctic Strategy reaffirms the four basic goals of the United States in Antarctica: first, to protect the Antarctic ecological environment; the second is to pay attention to the unique scientific research value of Antarctica; third, to ensure that Antarctica is used for peaceful purposes; Fourth, it is necessary to conserve Antarctic biological resources and the Antarctic ecosystem.
Uphold the authority of the Antarctic Treaty system. As the main policymaker of Antarctica, the United States led the conclusion of the Antarctic Treaty and deeply influenced the direction of the Antarctic Treaty system, believing that maintaining the Antarctic Treaty system is the key to defending the interests of the United States in Antarctica. At present, some countries continue to exaggerate China, Russia and other countries to challenge the Antarctic governance order, and the stability of the Antarctic Treaty system is questioned. The new strategy continues to emphasize that the United States will strongly support the Antarctic Treaty system as the legal framework for the Antarctic region and lead international cooperation through the Antarctic Treaty system.
Maintain a "positive and impactful" presence in Antarctica. After World War II, the United States' substantial presence and scientific research in Antarctica was second to none. Consistent with the previous strategy, the United States will continue to fund Antarctic scientific research through the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help the United States continue to project power in Antarctica. At the same time, the new version of the strategy continues the position of the United States in the previous version, that is, as a party to the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, it will actively manage human activities in the Antarctic region and play a leading role in achieving the goals of Antarctic conservation and conservation.
In recent years, the United States has been cutting back on research in Antarctica due to budget constraints. In April 2024, NSF announced that it would operate only one Antarctic research vessel in the future, and would not renew its contract with another; The modernization of McMurdo Station has also been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and new field visits will no longer be supported during the year. This series of events has raised concerns in the U.S. strategic community about U.S. influence in Antarctica. The introduction of the new Antarctic strategy reflects that the US government still attaches great importance to its position as a leader in Antarctic affairs and hopes to influence the development trend of Antarctic governance by maintaining the Antarctic Treaty system.
Source: "China Institute of Contemporary International Relations" WeChat public account
Author: Zhang Minxue
Editor: Hu Liang
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