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[[Category:Nations]]
For many years, human activity in Antarctica was controlled
by the Antarctic Treaty of 1959. This treaty allowed
some nations to make territorial claims on the continent, but
strictly limited what activities could be performed there. In
effect, Antarctica was set aside for scientific research, and
all military or resource-development activity was forbidden.

During the 2010s, advanced exploration techniques
discovered massive deposits of coal, oil, and natural gas on
the Antarctic Peninsula. By the late 2020s, oil-extraction
technology had advanced to the point where exploiting the
Antarctic reserves was feasible, even while world oil prices
were rising rapidly. This made the Antarctic oil fields
extremely tempting.

The territorial situation was confused at best. The
potential oil fields were located in a region in which
[[Argentina]], [[Chile]], and the [[United Kingdom]] had made overlapping
claims. Argentina and Chile were the closest
nations, and arguably needed the oil. Meanwhile, environmental
politics led the British to spearhead diplomatic
resistance to drilling. The situation grew increasingly tense
after 2030, as Argentina and Chile tested the boundaries of
the Antarctic Treaty.

The Antarctic War broke out in March of 2033. Certain
that the United Kingdom would be politically paralyzed by
the fallout of Scottish secession, Argentina unilaterally
repudiated the Antarctic Treaty and began openly drilling
for oil. When the British threatened to respond with force,
Argentine naval and commando forces seized the Falkland
Islands in order to deny the U.K. its best forward bases in
the area. Three days later, Chile announced political and
military cooperation with Argentina.

The war was relatively small, but bitterly fought.
Argentine forces were smaller and less sophisticated than
the British, but the difference was not as great as in the 1982
confrontation, and the Argentines were operating much
closer to their home territory. The British had great difficulty
retaking the Falklands. Afterward, they were unable to
interdict communications between Argentina and Antarctica.
The British were also restrained by the extreme Antarctic
climate, and the need to respect world opinion by
avoiding all-out warfare on Antarctica itself. The result was
months of low-level conflict. The British tried to capture
Argentine stations and petroleum facilities on Antarctica,
while the Argentines mounted counter-raids against the
British stronghold around the Falklands.

The war threatened to escalate in 2034, when [[New Zealand]] moved a battalion of troops to its own bases on
the Ross Ice Shelf to protect them against possible
attack. These forces were well away from the main battle
zones, but the New Zealand government openly stated
its support for the British position in the war. At this
point the [[United States]] used its position as a neutral
friendly to all combatants, brokering a cease-fire and
opening negotiations. In 2035 a new Antarctic Treaty
was signed, disallowing all national claims to territory
on Antarctica and forbidding further military action.
Antarctica was to be held in trust by all signatories as
part of the “common heritage of mankind,” and no further
exploitation of local resources was to be allowed.

The new treaty was an imperfect compromise, but
it held for some time. In the end, before new tensions
could arise, a flood of new wealth began to arrive from
space. By the mid-2040s, petroleum prices were falling
once again as fusion power fueled by lunar helium-3 began
to alter the global energy economy. The Antarctic War was
thus a pivotal moment in world history: the last major war
fought over petroleum, and also the last diplomatic success
enjoyed by the United States as the world’s only “superpower.”
The end of the petroleum economy and the end of
American predominance both ushered in the modern world.

As of 2100, Antarctica still has no permanent residents
– at least officially. Debate over the proper use of the continent
continues. Today there is little interest in Antarctica’s
fossil-fuel or mineral wealth. Instead, Antarctica has been
proposed as an ideal place for [[Isolate]] communities, using
high technology and genetic engineering to survive even in
the most inhospitable land on Earth. Persistent rumors
claim that such communities (or secret research facilities
sponsored by unknown parties) are already in place somewhere
on the continent.