At a time when competition over resources, strategic technologies, and influence is increasingly extending into shared domains such as outer space, the deep sea, the Arctic, and emerging technological frontiers, the roundtable considered what lessons from Antarctica may be relevant for the governance of other contested areas.
The discussion focused on the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), negotiated at the height of the Cold War, and its endurance over more than six decades as a model of peaceful cooperation, scientific collaboration, and environmental stewardship. Speakers Evan Bloom, former U.S. diplomat and Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and Dr. Horacio Werner, PhD, Executive Director of Agenda Antártica, reflected on the achievements of Antarctic diplomacy. Several features of the Antarctic experience may offer lessons for other global commons and emerging areas of geopolitical competition:
• Demilitarization and restraint
• Transparency and trust
• Constructive ambiguity
• Consensus
• Science diplomacy
The discussion also underscored that the strength of the Antarctic model lies not in eliminating national interests or competition, but in redirecting them toward cooperation, contribution, and shared purpose.
At the same time, the ATS is increasingly under pressure from renewed geopolitical rivalry, resource competition, climate change, and the politicization of technical and environmental questions. Preserving its achievements will require continued adaptation and renewed political commitment.
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