Peace in the Antarctic

Antarctica may be a frozen, windswept wasteland, but last week it became the first piece of territory which the U.S. and Russia agreed to make a military and nuclear no man's land.

Not much in the public eye until Admiral Richard E. Byrd's expeditions in the 1930s, Antarctica soon aroused that old flag-planting urge among several nations. The 1957-58 International Geophysical Year brought a temporary thaw in Antarctic rivalries. Scientists from twelve na tions--the U.S., Russia, Britain, France, Belgium, Norway, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Chile--worked together in a broad and coordinated program of Antarctic research. In May 1958, President Eisenhower invited them all to Washington to discuss a continuing joint policy for Antarctica. This, he argued, "could have the additional advantage of preventing unnecessary and undesirable political rivalries in that continent, the uneconomic expenditure of funds to defend individual national inter ests, and the recurrent possibility of international misunderstanding.'' After an amicable seven-week conference, all twelve nations signed an Antarctic treaty, and last week the U.S. Senate ratified it.

"Dismal Conclusion?" Recognizing that "it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord," the 34-year treaty forbids any military use of Antarctica or any nuclear explosions there. To make sure no nation cheats, each signatory has the right of unlimited inspection. Each nation may establish bases for research or exploration wherever it pleases in Antarctica, but it must suspend its territorial claims for the duration of the treaty. In the meantime, no other claims will be recognized. The nations agree to pool their facilities for the research that has continued in Antarctica ever since IGY: scientists at 33 stations study geology, weather, plant and animal life, and problems of human living under conditions of extreme cold.

Though the treaty was the U.S.'s idea, the Senate ratified it only after a prickly debate, and even then 21 Senators voted against it, so that it got a two-thirds majority with only eight votes to spare. Some Senators grumbled that the U.S. should not have allowed Russia, an Ivan-come-lately with no valid claim in Antarctica, to be a partner in the treaty. "It amounts to putting the free world and the slave world on the same footing," complained Connecticut's Thomas Dodd. Thundered Georgia's Richard Russell, recalling the exploits of the late Explorer Byrd (brother of Virginia's Senator Harry F. Byrd): "This treaty would certainly be a dismal conclusion to one of the brightest and proudest chapters of American history."

Zone of Peace. Despite such rumblings, the U.S. gave up very little. The U.S. has never formally claimed any part of Antarctica, nor has it formally recognized any other nation's claim. The treaty presumably removes Antarctica from the cold war, creates a zone of peace in the world. Pleased with Russia's cooperation in drafting the treaty, the State Department hopes to set a precedent for inspected arms control in less remote parts of the earth and in outer space as well.

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