ABSTRACT
The years 1982 and 1983 were as important as any since the Antarctic Treaty was negotiated in 1958-59. In 1982 the Antarctic Treaty powers, who then numbered fourteen, began their long-delayed negotiations regarding the appropriation of development rights to Antarctica's presumed riches of offshore oil and onshore minerals. This topic was discussed at three special meetings—in Wellington, Bonn, and Washington, with the usual lack of fan-fare—except at one meeting where a group of environmentalists, dressed in penguin costumes, waved signs to protest Antarctica's imminent ruin. By the end of 1983, the likelihood that the powers would reach an agreement on this momentous, divisive question was in doubt, and subsequent meetings were planned. Meanwhile, the talks spurred renewed interest among developing nations in the treaty, and in the great white continent and its potential resources.
