The Challenge of New Territories - An Introduction
| Author | Gunnar Skagestad,Willy Østreng |
| Date | 01 March 1974 |
| DOI | 10.1177/001083677400900106 |
| Published date | 01 March 1974 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
The
Challenge
of
New
Territories -
An
Introduction
WILLY
ØSTRENG
&
GUNNAR
SKAGESTAD
Currently,
the
industrialized
countries
arc
in
the
process
of
expanding
the
frontiers
of
their
economic
activities.
Through
the
application
of
highly
advanced
technology,
large
parts
of the
Arctic,
the
Antarctic,
the
oceans
and
the
ocean
floors
are
now
becoming
the
scenes
of
an
ever
more
ex-
tensive
and
diversified
exploitation
of
natural
resources.
Multinational
com-
panies
and
governmental
and
private
entrepreneurs
of
various
nationalities
have
already
established
themselves
in
many
parts
of
the
above-mentioned
regions,
where
they
are
making
heavy
investments
in
resource
exploration
and
exploitation.
More
capital
will
no
doubt
be
invested,
and
it
is
a
fairly
safe
bet
that
this
devel-
opment
is
going
to
accelerate,
in
intensity
as
well
as
in
extent,
in
the
years
to
come,
as
the
impact
of
the
global
raw
material
scarcity
makes
itself
felt.
This
makes
for
a
new
development
in
international
poli-
tics,
a
development
to
which
the
world
community
will
have
to
adapt
and
ac-
commodate
itself.
However,
the
question
is:
How
will
this adaption
process
mani-
fest
itself -
through
conflict
or
through
cooperation,?
Sizable
portions
of
the
areas
in
question
are
what
is
commonly
known
as
new
ter-
ritories,
i.e.
areas
which
(a)
have
not
pre-
viously
bcen
subject
to
the
internationally
recognized
sovereignty
of
f
any
state
or
placed
under
the
autlaority
of
any
inter-
national
organization,
and
which
(b)
are
becoming
the
ob ject
of
activities
zarhich
create
the
need
for
llee
regulating
and
con-
trol
of
zerhat
occurs
in
the
area.1
The
ab-
sence
of
a
firm
political
and
legal
order
in
such
areas
makes
for
an
increased
con-
flict
potential
and
enhances
the
probability
of
manifest
disputes
or
even
overt
hostil-
ities
between
the
countries
involved.
The
so-called
’cod
war’
between
Great
Britain
and
Iceland,
the
’Manhattan
dispute’
be-
tween
the
USA
and
Canada,
and
the
’lobster
war’
between
Brazil
and
France,
may
be
cited
as
cases
in
point.
Some
of
the
conflicts
which
have
occurred
in
new
territories,
will
be
discussed
more
thor-
oughly
in
this
collection
of
articles.
We
shall,
therefore,
at
this
stage
be
content
to
forward
some
general
considerations
concerning
the
background
and
the
under-
lying
issues
with
regard
to
conflicts
in
new
territories.
A
’normal’
train
of
events
would
be
the
following:
(1)
Within
a
certain
ownerless
area
there
occurs
a
kind
of
activity
(e.g.
scien-
tific
exploration
or
commercial
exploita-
tion)
which
creates
the
need
for
regulation.
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