Can the AUKUS alliance "get their hands on" Antarctica

A new trilateral alliance AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) was created last September. Washington, London and Canberra do not even hide the fact that the newly formed military bloc is aimed at regional containment of China. But then what can they hide? Is it possible that AUKUS also has another, not officially declared goal of redistributing spheres of influence on the last undeveloped continent on the planet?

This, of course, is about Antarctica. The sixth continent, as geologists believe, may be extremely rich in oil, gas, iron ore, coal, copper, zinc, nickel, lead and other minerals. In addition, the ice cap on top of Antarctica is a colossal supply of clean drinking water, which in the foreseeable future may become the most scarce and desired resource when a liter of water goes for the price of a kilogram of gold. And all this wealth lies there no man's economicsexisting in the capitalist paradigm is simply unacceptable.



Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, France, Norway, Argentina and Chile managed to declare their claims for a piece of cold, but such "tasty" Antarctic pie. Postwar Germany and Japan abandoned claims to Antarctica. It is curious that the Land of the Rising Sun nevertheless unofficially makes hints in this direction, stating that only it has Technology gas production at great depths. The United States and the USSR, and now the Russian Federation, retained the basis for claims to the Antarctic territories, not recognizing the claims of each other and other participants. In 1936, Washington announced in an official letter that the American explorer Richard Byrd, on behalf of the United States, declared claims to the entire territory of Antarctica, and after that, the US Congress repeatedly discussed the possibility of establishing sovereignty over part of the continent. True, this has not yet been done.

These disputes were ended by the 1959 Antarctica Treaty, which entered into force two years later. He divided all countries into three groups: those that had made claims before it was signed, those that retained the right to make territorial claims, and that do not have such claims. The USA and the USSR, and then the Russian Federation, entered the second category, Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand - into the first. By the way, London owes its impressive share of this “pie” to the successfully won war for the Falklands, which the British took from Argentina by force. As for the untouched natural resources of the sixth continent, their development was prohibited by the Madrid Protocol, signed in 1998. It is valid until 2048, after which it will be either canceled or extended for another 50 years. And something suggests that it will definitely not be extended.

In 2007, London sent a heap of applications to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to expand its sovereignty in territories related to the Bay of Biscay, Ascension Island, South Georgia and the Hatton-Rockall territory disputed with Ireland, the Falkland Islands and the British Antarctic Territory. The British were very interested in oil, gas and other minerals. In the same year, Russia filed a claim for the possession of the Lomonosov Ridge in the Arctic, and it was immediately challenged by the United States, Canada and Denmark.

From what has been said, we can draw an intermediate conclusion that all the leading countries of the world, and not only them, show interest in the natural resources of the Antarctic and the Arctic. A large redistribution of "no-man's" lands is inevitable, the only question is in what form it will take place, in compliance with the norms of international law or with its complete disregard, by right of the strong. If Russia objectively dominates in the Arctic, then we cannot reach Antarctica due to the almost complete absence of a combat-ready surface fleet and naval bases in the region on which to rely.

The situation is completely different for the Anglo-Saxons. Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand, which joined them, have the right to a huge chunk of the sixth continent, more than half of it. If, together with them, the United States joins the game on the redistribution of Antarctica, and they will certainly enter it, then the "no-man's" land can instantly become owned by the Anglo-Saxons. What if other countries disagree with this? Who will ask them?

The united fleet AUKUS reigns supreme over the oceans and is able to drive away any challenger from the sixth continent. The Anglo-Saxon Alliance already has a developed network of naval bases in the region - in Australia, in the Falklands, it will be able to open and supply new bases in the required volume. The United States is actively building new powerful icebreakers. Australian, American and British nuclear submarines will be able to control the approaches to Antarctica.

Taken together, this means that, if necessary, AUKUS can simply take over the sixth continent for itself. And no one can interfere with the Anglo-Saxons in this.