Governing the Frozen Commons: The Antarctic Regime and Environmental Protection

Governing the Frozen Commons examines the Antarctic Treaty System as a complex legal regime for managing resource activities in the Antarctic and assesses what innovative legal arrangements might be needed to regulate future political and economic developments there. In this study, Christopher C. Joyner analyzes a number of critical considerations affecting the circumpolar south, including the status of Antarctica as a global commons; the legal regime currently in place for managing Antarctic affairs; the legal, economic, and political implications of applying a common heritage of mankind regime to the Antarctic; the viability of the legal regimes now established for resource management, conservation, environmental protection, and scientific investigation in the Antarctic; and the prospect that Antarctica might be considered a world park.