This book provides a diplomatic history of a turning point in Antarctic
governance: the 1991 adoption of comprehensive environmental protection
obligations for an entire continent, which prohibited mining. Solving
the mining issue became a symbol of finding diplomatic consensus. The
book combines historiographic concepts of contingency, conjuncture and
accidental events with theories of structural, entrepreneurial and
intellectual leadership. Drawing on archival documents, it shows that
Antarctic governance is more adaptive than some imagine, and policy
success depends on the interplay of normative practices, serendipitous
events, public engagement and influential players able to exploit those
circumstances. Ultimately, the events revealed in this book show that
the protection of the Antarctic Treaty itself remains as important as
protecting the Antarctic environment.