New Problems — Old Solutions
| Author | Gunnar Skagestad,Kim Traavik |
| DOI | 10.1177/001083677400900109 |
| Published date | 01 March 1974 |
| Date | 01 March 1974 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
New
Problems — Old
Solutions
GUNNAR
SKAGESTAD
&
KIM
TRAAVIK
The
verdict
in
1933
by
the
Permanent
International
Court
of
Justice
in
the
so-called
’Eastern
Greenland
Case’
brought
to
the
fore
the
dilemma
of
adapting
the
traditional
sovereignty
concept
to
the
novel
political/legal
problems
characterizing
the
’new
ter-
ritories’.
With
the
opening
up
of
other
’new
territories’
for
exploration
and
subsequent
exploitation,
this
dilemma
has
grown
ever
more
acute
in
recent
years.
This
chapter
highlights
some
general
regulation
problems
in
’new
territories’,
gives
a
description
of
attempts
made
to
solve
such
problems
in
the
past,
and
identifies
the
key
elements
in
the
various
’solution
models’
(notably
the
Svalbard
Treaty,
the
Antarctic
Treaty
and
the
Continental
Shelf
Convention).
These
elements
are
described
and
analysed
comparatively,
with
a
certain
emphasis
on
the
somewhat
divergent
precon-
ditions
prevalent
in
the
three
separate
examples.
In
the
final
section,
the
authors
pro-
ceed
to
discuss
the
applicability
of
the
old
solution
models
to
the
present
and
emerging
regulation
problems
in
the
new
territories.
I.
INTRODUCTION
l.
New
Territories
as
New
Tension-
Fields
in
International
Politics
The
’new
territories’’
are
typical
marginal
regions,
in
respect
of
geography,
as
well
as
in
respect
of
politics
(international
law).
An
important
feature
of
the
development
of
such
regions
has
been
the
formation
of
/!f~
tension-lines
and
new
tens ion-patterns.
New
regions
which
used
to
be
(and
which,
in
some
cases,
still
are)
’no-man’s
land’
in
the
political
and
legal
sense,
have
been
opened
up
for
systematic
exploration
and
to
some
extent
also
for
exploitation.
The
involvement
of
individual
states
displays
considerable
differences
in
kind
and
in-
tensity,
e.g.
with
regard
to
motives
and
aspirations,
and,
not
least
significantly,
with
regard
to
their
practical
exploitative
means -
their
capability.
These
circum-
stances
have
resulted
in
international
con-
flicts
of
interests
which
to
a
varying
ex-
tent
have
come
to
characterize
the
devel-
opment
in
the
various
’new
territories’.
This
is
a
development
that
entails
an
in-
creased
conflict
potential,
in
the
relations
between
individual
nations,
as
well
as
be-
tween
national
and
international
interests
and
objectives.
There
are
two
aspects
of
the
’new-
territories
issue’
which
we
shall
deal
with
here:
(1)
That
new
activity
in
new
regions
creates
new
types
of
problems,
requiring
new
types
of
solutions;2
and
(2)
that
the
development
threatens
to
alter
the
status
quo
ante
in
an
unfavorable
direction,
i.e.
in
the
direction
of
greater
insecurity,
something
which
calls
for
mea-
sures
to
be
taken
to
preserve
the
status
quo
in
areas
where
this
is
considered
desir-
able
(e.g.
with
regard
to
environmental
protection,
demilitarization,
etc.).
From
these
two
aspects
of
the
’new
territories
issue’,
one
would
also
expect
to
find
Two
corresponding
aspects
in
the
solution-models3
which
might
possibly
be
applied
in
tackling
the
problems
of
the
’new
territories’:4
(1)
Innovation,
i.e.
the
invention
of
novel,
viable
forms
of
solutions,
adapted
to
the
concrete
requirements
present
in
a
given
’new
territory’;
and
(2)
Conservation,
i.e.
the
preservation
of
(parts
of)
the
situation
already
present
(status
quo
ante),
so as
to
impede
or
pre-
vent
a
development
in
an
undesired
direc-
tion.
2.
The
Historical
Background
As
regards
the
factors
that
affect
the
new
territories,
international
law
is
rather
de-
ficient.
This,
however,
does
not
preclude
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