An executive order by the United States in April authorising expanded engagement in seabed mining reflects shifting approaches to the governance of critical mineral resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction. As legal frameworks evolve beneath …
Australia requires persistent access to Antarctica and needs to reconsider its 2021 decision to abandon plans for a year-round runway near Davis Station. Unimpeded access to Antarctica is necessary as to solidify Australia’s status as …
If China sets up the first permanent Moon base, it could easily upend the US-sponsored Artemis Accords on lunar colonisation and take control of part of the Moon. Its behaviour in Antarctica already shows how. …
Can the recently concluded Artemis Accords that pave the way for exploring, extracting and using resources of the Moon, Mars and other stellar bodies become a blueprint for the mining of Antarctica? No, they can’t, …
Our domestic discourse on the geopolitics of Antarctica is shamefully shallow. Our attitude continues to be one of ‘there’s nothing to see here’. Our vital interests, including the defence of Australian sovereign territory, are …
Recently, Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia have hit new highs, making it the global epicentre of the coronavirus. As countries across the region try to curb the spread of the Delta variant, ASPI’s Huong Le …
Next year, the Australian government will decide on whether to commit funding for a proposed year-round, paved aerodrome in the Vestfold Hills area, near the Australian Davis research station in East Antarctica. An all-weather, year-round, …
The Antarctic Treaty System is a consensus arrangement that has been in place for more than 50 years. It worked well in the 1960s, when nuclear weapons were seen as the key to global security. …
For Australian policymakers, the security advantages of the Antarctic Treaty would seem to be hiding in plain sight. The luxury of a secure, demilitarised southern neighbourhood saves us a great deal of money and kit. …
Beijing’s recent announcement that its new ice breaker, the Haibing 722 海冰 (Sea Ice), had undertaken its maiden voyage patrolling the Bohai Sea is a signal of China’s growing prowess in the polar regions. Haibing 722 …
The Antarctic region is of immense strategic importance to Australia, not only because Australia claims 42% of Antarctica, but also because the Antarctic Treaty provides that all of the planet below 60 degrees South is …
Two incidents so far this year have highlighted Australia’s inability to protect its sovereignty and discharge its responsibilities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. In the first incident in January, three foreign fishing vessels were …
