United Nations General Assembly
the Special Session on the Militarisation of Antarctica

A United Nations Special Session is convened by the Secretary-General at the request of the Security Council or a majority of Members States of the UN to function in a more streamlined and focused process than the regular General Assembly and discuss specific issues or long-term crises. Delegates meet in these Special Sessions to make recommendations to the General Assembly and the broader UN on actions to take to resolve the specific topic they have been convened for. Antarctica lives in a state of ambiguous international guidance (Bliss). It has no economy, does not reserve a seat in the UN, and does not have singular ownership. Despite these seemingly superficial truths, the region’s importance to the environment, the global economy and ultimately world peace cannot be overstated. Often described as the region of superlatives, Antarctica is the world’s highest, driest, windiest, coldest, and iciest continent. Antarctica is the Earth’s most well-preserved and inaccessible continent, located at the southern tip of the globe. If this ice were to melt it could potentially raise the global sea levels by 60m. Hence, the region presents undeniable challenges to strategy in the modern world. A plethora of issues exist with multiple nations staking land claims in this region. Could we be headed to a Militarised South Pole?