Book Reviews : Antarctic Law & Politics F. M. Auburn. C. Hurst & Co. £17.50
| Published date | 01 October 1982 |
| DOI | 10.1177/004711788200700418 |
| Date | 01 October 1982 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
2251
of
its
members
to
equal
the
great
among
the
Judges
of
the
Permanent
Court
of
International
Justice
are
receding.&dquo;
A
verdict
with
which
it
is,
unfortunately,
impossible
to
disagree.
Antarctic
Law &
Politics
F.
M.
Auburn.
C.
Hurst
&
Co.
£17.50
Recent
events
in
the
Falkland
Islands
have
made
Professor
Auburn’s
book
even
more
important
and
relevant
that
when
it
was
originally
written
since,
as
a
result,
the
strains
already
present
in
what
he
describes
as
&dquo;the
club
of
nations&dquo;
operating
within
the
terms
of
the
Antarctic
Treaty,
have
been
considerably
increased.
As
Associate
Professor
of Law
at
the
University
of Western
Australia
he
has
specialised
in
the
legal
regime
of Antarctica
on
which
he
is
a
leading
authority.
The
first
half
of
the
volume
is
concerned
with
the
various
forms
of
claims
of
sovereignty
and
the
competing
national
interests
involved,
the
existing
regime
under
the
Treaty,
and
the
manner
in
which
it
is,
or
is
not,
applied;
in
fact
it
is
emphasised
that
there
is
an
almost
total
lack
of
administration,
and
this
also
includes
its
jurisdictional
aspects.
The
second
half
covers
resource
exploration,
possible
exploitation
and
the
necessity
to
control
irreparable
damage
to
the
environmental
and
living
resources.
Issues
of
international
concern
include
seal
hunting
off
Antarctica’s
continental
shelf,
and
the
harvesting
of
krill
which
is
already
being
processed
by
the
Soviet
Union
and
Japan,
although
its
general
acceptability
as
food
is
still
rather
questionable.
Moreover
large
scale
harvesting
could
disturb
the
ecological
balance
of
the
marine
life
that
feeds
on
it,
with
results
that
might well
outweigh
whatever might
be
its value
as
food. The
exploitation
of oil,
gas,
and
minerals
equally
raises
questions
about
the
future
of
international
co-operation
over
Antarctic
territories.
The
project
for
towing
icebergs
to
provide
fresh
water
for,
inter
alia,
the
Gulf
States,
is
touched
upon
but
the
writer
points
out
that,
so
far,
the
practicality
of
such
a
scheme
is
unproven.
Professor
Auburn
is
understandably
sceptical
about
the
genuineness
of
the
interests
of
governments
in
basic
scientific
research
and
environmental
protection,
they
are
in
general
much
more
concerned
with
staking
or
reinforcing
of territorial
claims.
He
foresees
that,
as
the
number
of
Antartic
powers
grows
the
Treaty
framework
may
prove
inadequate.
However
the
balance
of
power
in
Antarctica
so
far
remains
with
the
United
States
and
the
Soviet
Union.
Finally,
it
is
pointed
out
that
the
Sealing
Convention
and
the
Living
Resources
Convention
are
both
intricately
linked
with
the
present
Antarctic
Treaty
regime.
&dquo;What
is
clear
is
that
the
Antarctic
system
is
undergoing
stresses
which
will
transform
the
regime.
Backed
by
major
industrial
powers
it
may
well
survive.
Whether
it
will
prove
adequate
to
cope
with
resource
disputes
raised
by
the
Consultative
Parties
themselves
is
far
from
clear.&dquo;
Appendices
include
the
Antarctic
Treaty
text,
the
Agreed
Measures
for
the
Conservation
of Antarctic
Flora
and
Fauna,
and
the
Convention
for
the
Conservation
of Antarctic
Seals,
and
extracts
from
materials-though
none
from
the
USSR-on
the
Conservation
of Antarctic
Living
Resources.
There
are
four
excellent
maps
and
a
20
page
bibliography.
This
is
a
really
invaluable
and
most
informative
study
for
the
interested
layman
as
well
as
the
professional
in
the
field.
Faith
and Power:
The
Politics
of
Islam
Edward
Mortimer
Faber
&
Faber.
Hard
cover
£10.50
Paper
£5.95.
The
Muslim
Discovery
of
Europe
Bernard
Lewis.
Weidenfeld
&
Nicolson
£12.50
Edward
Mortimer
has
written
the
most
fascinating
and
informative
account
of
the
Moslem
religion
and
its
function
both
in
its
early
development
from
roughly
609
to
the
present
day.
Unlike
Christianity,
whose
founder
stated
categorically
that
&dquo;My
Kingdom
is
not
of
this
World&dquo;,
Mohammed’s
revelations
resulted
in
the
setting
up
of
a state
or,
in
the
initial
stages
a
clan,
centred
originally
on
Medina
after
he
had
fled
from
Mecca
as
a
result
of
increasing
persecution.
By
the
time
of
his
death
in
632
he
and
his
followers
not
only
ruled
Medina
and
Mecca
but
had
become
the
dominant
power
in
the
Arabian
peninsula.
&dquo;Within
twenty
years
after
that,
it
had
overthrown
the
Persian
Empire
and
conquered
all
theAsiatic
territories
of
the
Roman
Empire
except
Anatolia
(modern
Turkey).
A
hundred
years
after
Mohammed’s
death
a
mighty
empire
stretched
from
the
Punjab
to
the
Pyrenees
and
from
Samarkand
to
the
Sahara.&dquo;
The
author
has
divided
the
volume
into
two
parts.
Part
One:
The
Historical
Background,
covers
Traditional
Muslim
Attitudes
to
Political
Power,
The
Historic
Divisions
of
Islam,
Decline
and
Revival
and
Western
Impact
and
Muslim
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