ABSTRACT
The Antarctic continent has been subject to numerous international claims and unilateral/regional declarations from states that wish to assert their sovereignty therein. Thus, during the austral winter, ice packs expand out to an area of 20 million square kilometers and retreat back to 4 million during summer. In effect, Antarctica becomes a pulsating continent, seasonally ringed by profound the ice growth and decay. The Antarctic system constitutes a special regime that seeks to balance the controverted legal and geopolitical interests over Antarctica. The system is in permanent evolution since the signing of the Antarctic treaty, a convention that is the central nucleus of the entire subsequent legal framework. Later, during the cold war, uncertainties concerning the status quo of Antarctica created a general concern to see the ‘white continent’ emerging as a new front of battle. The Antarctic System constitutes a sui generis regime.
