[meteorite-list] A New Question

[Francis Graham]

Hello

>  The real 
> motivation behind this government collaboration is the
> worry that 
> brazen nations (and there is never a shortage of these)
> might abuse 
> this "no-man's land" while other "well
> behaved nations" stood by and 
> got jealous, disadvantaged, or had their security
> threatened.  So the 
> countries agreed that military, disposal or commercial
> (i.e., mining, 
> harvesting flora or fauna) acivities by any treaty
> signatories was 
> mutually prohibited.

   Neuschwabenland is a case in point. Hitler wanted a commercial colony in Antarctica, so he staked out a claim in the Norwegian claim for his own regime. Fortunately for the ecology of Antarctica, he was distracted by the horrific war he started which made Europe a wasteland and cemetary. Without the Antarctic Treaty, surely other nations would be there with claims and schemes, perhaps, not regimes as bad as Hitler, but conflicted and unsound still. 
   I wonder what effect the spectre of Neuschwabenland had on the motivation behind the Antarctic treaty. Most of the politics of the late 20th century came out of the war. In some sense, it took 50 years to settle the damage.
   There are six other continents, and many--perhaps thousands-- meteorites are just sitting on places there waiting for your perusal, study, and admiration. Perhaps Antarctic Park can be left alone.

Francis Graham