Antarctic Geopolitical thinking in South America was especially influential and prolific during the long periods of military governments in South America in the 1970s and early 1980s. Geopolitical and strategic thinking strongly influence each other, so it should not be surprising that both foreign and domestic policy should be significantly informed by geopolitical thinking during periods when the military is in power. The Southern Cone military governments who believed in the national security state, the organic theory of the nation-state, and in the need for a state to have space to live and grow depended for much of their ideological framework on various aspects of geopolitical thought.

But it would be a mistake to think of South American geopolitical thinking as thriving and influential only during periods of military dictatorship. For many decades geopolitical ideas had been taught in schools using curricula prescribed (and enforced) by a ministry of education in a highly centralized arrangement. Geopolitical ideas were linked in these schools, and in the media, to patriotism, history, and national identity. If a country had lost territory in the past to another nation (and many South American nations had this experience), then geopolitical analysis frequently provided justification for strong action to regain these lost territories.

In terms of Antarctica, propinquity has been closely tied to a nation’s policies, perspectives and geopolitical thinking regarding the continent, and this is especially true for Chile and Argentina. In the past propinquity has meant support for (and sometimes rescue of) Antarctic expeditions launched by European nations or the United States. The early 20th Century examples of Sir Ernest Shackleton and the Swedish Antarctic Expedition (1901-04) under Otto Nordenskiöld come to mind, with Chilean and Argentine navy ships playing a key role in their rescue. The support and encouragement the Argentines gave the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition in 1902 under William Bruce was repaid many times over when Bruce, annoyed with the British government for their lack of support, turned his base station in the South Orkneys over to the Argentines. That station has been continuously occupied by the Argentines since 1904, and gives them the right to proclaim that they have special privileges as the first nation to run an Antarctic base for a century. In the last few decades the Chilean city of Punta Arenas has been the launching platform for a number of expeditions and logistical support from other nations, including the Brazilians, the Ecuadorians, and the Americans. The “air bridge” between Punta Arenas and the Chilean landing strip in their Teniente Marsh station on Antarctic Peninsula has served as a logistical and medical lifeline for the Antarctic programs of these countries, most recently with the emergency evacuation of two American doctors (4 years apart) for critical medical situations.

With the return to democratic and elected civilian governments in all of South America in the last twenty years, one might expect the influence of geopolitical thinking and the quantity of publications distributing these ideas, to have declined dramatically. Indeed, this period saw the disappearance of a number of geopolitical journals, and the number and prominence of geopolitical works in the bookstores of Buenos Aires and Santiago have declined notably.

But geopolitical ideas have not disappeared with the end of military rule. And geopolitical ideas relating to the Antarctic sustain the Antarctic programs of several countries. Furthermore, some interesting new ideas relating to Antarctica have emerged, to include cooperative approaches and the notion of a “South American Antarctica” in the 90 degree quadrant between the Greenwich and 90 degree West meridians, with that quadrant being reserved for South American Antarctic programs and the desired departure of other nations, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, China, and Russia, among others. Cooperative programs with Spain around the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the “encounter” (or pillaging and destruction, from a different perspective) starting in 1492 included the launching of an Antarctic program by Spain, which now has a permanent station on the Antarctic Peninsula. The inclusion of Spain in the South American Antarctic condominium was based on the geopolitical idea of an “Ibero-American Quadrant” of Antarctica, occupying the same sector defined by the meridian of Greenwich and 90 degrees West. The notion of a “South American Antarctica” has its strongest manifestation in the 1947 Rio Treaty for Interamerican Reciprocal Assistance, which, at the urging of Argentina and Chile, extends the area of applicability of the Treaty to the South Pole, including their Antarctic claims and the Southern Islands .

The military influence in national Antarctic activities is also based on the simple fact that the military is probably the only institution in these countries which can mount a successful (and permanent) Antarctic station, using its aircraft, ships, and logistical systems to support the program. Visits to a number of Antarctic stations leaves one with the clear impression that the South American stations are like military bases, with a military culture based on organization and discipline. Uniforms are commonly seen in these South American bases, which are frequently named after military heroes or soldiers, sailors and pilots who have died in Antarctic accidents.

References

Child, Jack, Antarctica and South American Geopolitics: Frozen Lebensraum (New York: Praeger, 1988).

Dodds, Klaus, Geopolitics in Antarctica: views from the Southern Oceanic Rim (Chichester, New York. Published in association with Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge by J. Wiley, 1997).

Mercado Jarrín, Edgardo, El Perú y la Antártida (Lima: Instituto Peruano de Estudios Geopolíticos y Estratégicos, 1984).

Mericq, General Luis S. (Chile), Antárctica: Chile's Claim (Washington: National Defense University, 1986).

Moneta, Carlos J., ed., La Antártida en el Sistema Internacional del Futuro (Buenos Aires: Grupo Editor Lationoamericano, 1988).

Schmied, Julie, La Política Antárctica de los Países Latinoamericanos (Madrid: Instituto de Cuestiones Internacionales, 1988).