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Ike and Antarctica

Antarctica is the only continent that is not divided into nations.  It is also the only continent that is both demilitarized and nuclear free.  How did this come about?

The world’s southernmost continent is about 1.3 times the size of Europe

Throughout his presidency, Dwight D. Eisenhower advocated arms control.  He offered dramatic proposals such as “Atoms for Peace” and “Open Skies.”  He also proposed a limited nuclear test ban treaty.  However, only one of these initiatives the 1959 Antarctica Treaty, came to fruition.
           
Scientists were the major advocates of such a treaty.  After World War II, scientists from several nations became very active in Antarctica.  A number of nations claimed territory on the continent and some were involved in scientific activities there.  A few nations were claiming exclusive fishing rights in the offshore areas.  By the early 1950s, both the Soviet Union and the United States were considering nuclear tests in Antarctica.
           
In 1952, scientists began planning for the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year. Increasing territorial and fishing rights claims along with the looming threats of possible military activities led many scientists to advocate the preservation of “the South Pole” continent.  Three scientists, Lloyd V. Berkner (an American scientific administrator), Vladimir V. Beloussov (a Soviet geologist), and Jean Coulomb (a French astronomer) led the effort to preserve Antarctica exclusively for scientific purposes.
           
While each of these men was respected within the scientific community, they also had higher-level alliances in their own governments.  Berkner, for instance, was President of the International Council of Scientific Unions and a member of President Eisenhower’s Scientific Advisory Committee.  Both Coulomb and Beloussov had similar connections with their respective governments.   Many other scientists began to join in this advocacy group.  Eventually, an official committee of the Comité Speciale de l’Année Géophysique Internationale was formed and this a group of scientists from twelve nations later distributed an outline for a proposed agreement on Antarctica.
           
Rather than dealing with the issues of territorial claims, the scientists decided to craft an agreement that would regulate the actions of anyone who wished to set foot on the continent.   By 1958, scientific representatives from the twelve nations gathered in Washington to draft the rules.  By early 1959, the parties had agreed upon the following principles:

• Freedom of scientific investigation and cooperation;
• Prohibition of military activity and nuclear devices;
• Prohibition of radioactive waste disposal;
• Free access and inspections in any area by all signatories;
• Disputes to be resolved by the International Court of Justice;
• No further assertion of territorial claims.

On December 1, 1959, President Eisenhower signed the resulting Antarctica Treaty on behalf of the United States.  Within the next sixteen months, the treaty had been ratified by all twelve of the participating nations:  Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States.  Since then, the number of nations who have adopted the treaty has risen to forty-five.  Peaceful scientific use of the South Pole has continued ever since.