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Legitimacy in Antarctic governance: The stewardship model

Part of: 60th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2020

Nils Vanstappen Open the ORCID record for Nils Vanstappen [Opens in a new window]
Nils Vanstappen*
Affiliation:
Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies (KU Leuven), Charles Deberiotstraat 34, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
*
Author for correspondence: nils.vanstappen@telenet.be
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Abstract

The international community’s interest in the governance of Antarctica has long been recognised. Consideration of this interest has even been one of the pillars of the Antarctic Treaty System’s legitimacy. The Antarctic Treaty, for example, famously claims to serve “the interest of all mankind.” Yet, exactly how the international community is given a voice in Antarctic deliberations remains unclear. This contribution argues that – with the idea of direct United Nations involvement having been squarely rejected – stewardship could best describe the existing governance model as well as offer a normative framework to assess the system’s legitimacy.

Keywords

StewardshipAntarctic Treaty SystemLegitimacyAuthority

Information

Type
Commentary
Information
Polar Record , Volume 55 , Issue 5 , September 2019 , pp. 358 - 360
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2020 

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