Turning attention to the layered and dispersed access management system of the Antarctic Treaty System

Abstract

ABSTRACT The ability of the Antarctic Treaty System to adequately address strategic challenges such as the effects of increasing tourism, climate change and geopolitical tensions is being questioned. At the operational level, these challenges involve the mechanisms of getting to and from the continent – mechanisms that are prescribed in the Antarctic Treaty System, but carried out by individual states. This article explores the nature of these access management policies and practices, and demonstrates the importance of understanding them for a resilient Antarctica in the future. It reveals the interrelationship between the concepts of ‘bifocalism’, ‘sovereignty’ and ‘bordering/access management’ in the Antarctic Treaty System, illuminated by examples of New Zealand border and access practices. This article demonstrates that the Antarctic Treaty System operates a dispersed access management system that is akin to state border control systems but largely separate from them. It identifies vulnerabilities and capability gaps in the current arrangements and argues for a new access management agenda to address them.