The Borders We Share: A New Way to Fix a Broken World
Section 1: Foundations of the Multiverse (Posts 1–6)
Blog Post #5: Atlantis Rising, Antarctic Thaw: Deep Claims, Shared Wins
In a Nutshell
Picture this: Atlantis, the fabled island of legend, surges from the ocean depths—its golden ruins sparking a frantic race among explorers to claim its sunken treasures. Now shift your gaze to Antarctica, a frozen frontier where nations jostle for dominance over ice-locked resources beneath a rapidly warming sky. One is a myth born from Plato’s ancient quill; the other, a tangible expanse of ice and ambition. In my series The Borders We Share, I’m diving into these twin tales of territorial rivalry—one imagined, one all too real—exploring how clashing claims might sink us into conflict or, with a bit of ingenuity, lift us toward cooperation. Let’s plunge into these stories and see if sharing the stakes can calm the storms they stir.
The Adventure Dives In
Ever since I was a kid, Plato’s Atlantis gripped me—a lost world of concentric cities swallowed by the sea, a puzzle of power and possession that’s haunted imaginations for millennia. Those submerged towers posed a question that still echoes: who owns what lies beneath? In The Borders We Share, I’m chasing that mystery, transforming tales of territorial strife into blueprints for shared success. Over the past weeks, we’ve roamed Sherwood’s outlawed woods clashing with the Amazon’s tangled roots, and followed Sherlock Holmes slicing through London’s docks and Ireland’s jagged edges. Today, we’re diving deeper—into Atlantis’ mythical waters and Antarctica’s icy plains—realms where rival claims spark both peril and possibility. Strap in; the journey’s about to get cold and wild.
Let’s start with Atlantis, a story I’m spinning anew from its public-domain roots. Imagine it’s 2025, and a seismic jolt off Santorini in the Aegean Sea thrusts a marvel into the sunlight: golden spires breaching the waves, marble corridors shimmering with salt-crusted grandeur, a drowned empire Plato sketched in 360 BCE. Two factions leap into the fray. The Triton League, a rugged band of Greek divers, claims kinship—leaked lab reports from Athens University tout a 30% genetic match to ancient bones dredged from the site, a lineage they say ties them to Atlantis’ lost people. Against them stands the Neptune Pact, a polished U.S.-UK consortium armed with cutting-edge tech—submersibles charting every crevice, drones buzzing over relics, chasing whispers of ancient alloys that could revolutionize engineering. The stakes dazzle: divers estimate $10 billion in gold dusts the seafloor, per rough tallies in maritime journals; Forbes speculates patents on rediscovered tech could double that haul. Tensions flare—nets are slashed, drones plummet into the deep, subs graze each other in midnight skirmishes. Greece invokes heritage, waving UNESCO’s banner; the Pact cites maritime salvage law, brandishing contracts and coordinates. The Aegean churns with conflict—who truly owns this resurrected realm?
Now pivot to Antarctica, a sprawling 1.4 million square miles of ice—Earth’s seventh continent, hoarding 60% of the planet’s freshwater, according to NASA’s latest figures. Seven nations—Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the UK—etched their claims between 1908 and 1939, staking flags on grounds of discovery, proximity, and colonial bravado. Argentina and Chile anchor their bids in geography—stations like Argentina’s Esperanza (founded 1952) and Chile’s Base O’Higgins dot the ice, overlapping the UK’s “Falklands sector” declared in 1908 via Letters Patent. Australia, France, New Zealand, and Norway nod to each other’s boundaries, but Argentina and Chile’s sectors collide with the UK’s, a frozen standoff detailed in Chapter 9 of my forthcoming 2025 book, Territorial Disputes in the Americas (Routledge). The 1959 Antarctic Treaty halts new claims, suspending sovereignty disputes in a diplomatic deep freeze, yet its 1991 Protocol faces review in 2048—a deadline that looms like a storm on the horizon. Heavyweights like the U.S. (with McMurdo Station’s 1,000-strong crew), Russia (drilling at Vostok), and China (five bases, including Great Wall since 1985) hover without formal claims, their sights set on oil—200 billion barrels, per a 2008 USGS estimate—natural gas, and krill harvests topping 500,000 tons annually, per CCAMLR records. Latin America’s players—Brazil’s 40-year PROANTAR program, Peru’s three-decade expeditions, Uruguay’s Artigas base, Ecuador’s Maldonado outpost—push for influence. Ice loss accelerates—10% since 2010, NOAA warns—unveiling riches that fuel a simmering race. Can this cold contest thaw without shattering?
The Murky Depths
These aren’t mere turf wars—they’re torrents of human ambition, swirling through history, law, and desire. For Atlantis, the Triton League’s divers cling to identity—a 30% genetic link, they insist, verified by Athens University’s labs, rooting their claim in a national saga spun from Plato’s Timaeus and Critias. The Neptune Pact counters with cold calculation—submersibles map a 50-mile ruin off Santorini, GPS-locked, chasing tech worth $5 billion, per Forbes’ analysts, like ancient batteries hinted at in waterlogged scrolls. Time stretches back 2,300 years to Plato’s telling; space narrows to a jagged underwater plateau. A nonlinear twist emerges—Russian subs, silent and Kremlin-backed, skirt the edges, per rumors on X, probing for their own slice of the prize.
Antarctica’s tangle runs deeper. Argentina ties its claim to its “Provincia de Tierra del Fuego,” a geopolitical thread that loops in the Falklands/Malvinas—lose one, and the other frays, Buenos Aires warns. Chile’s Decreto 1747 of 1940 carves out 53°–90°W; the UK’s 1908 Patent counters with 20°–80°W south of 50°S, a colonial echo. The Treaty’s Article IV suspends these assertions—Argentina’s Orcadas base (1904), Chile’s contiguity, the UK’s legal parchment—yet Russia’s Vostok station extracts 3,600-meter ice cores, the U.S.’s McMurdo hums with activity, and China’s bases multiply. Time spans from colonial footprints to 2048’s tipping point; space shrinks as ice shelves like Larsen C fracture (2017’s rift a stark sign), guarding 70% of Earth’s freshwater, per SCAR data. Nonlinearity creeps in—Brazil’s PROANTAR eyes krill quotas (500,000 tons yearly, CCAMLR notes), while India’s 2023 UN speech hints at a global reframe. Agents—states, scientists, corporations—pull at the seams; the ice creaks under the strain.
Why Sharing Surfaces Stronger
Zero-sum games drown us all. In Atlantis, the feud buries $10 billion in gold beneath legal quicksand—subs corrode, relics crumble in silt. Antarctica’s scramble courts chaos—200 billion barrels of oil tempt war, per USGS, while 2023’s 5,000-ton krill haul signals ecological strain, per WWF. My solution: egalitarian shared sovereignty. For Atlantis, blind negotiators—Greece’s Triton and the Pact—divide the spoils. Triton curates heritage—golden orbs and marble friezes fill museums; Neptune harvests tech—alloy formulas split 50/50, patents funding both sides; local fishers work the waters, Russia sidelined. Four principles guide it: all voices count (divers, execs), roles match strengths (Triton’s historians, Neptune’s engineers), rewards reflect input (relics showcased, tech sold), and the strong bolster the weak—Neptune seeds Triton’s digs with $1 million yearly.
Antarctica demands a council—seven claimants, plus the U.S., Russia, China, and a Latin bloc (Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay, Ecuador). Vertically, claimants preserve legacy—Argentina logs Orcadas’ history; powerhouses drive science—U.S. ice cores, Russia’s Lake Vostok microbes; the Latin bloc manages krill quotas. Horizontally, zones emerge: 20% each for claimants’ heritage (e.g., Norway’s Dronning Maud), 30% shared for research (joint bases), profits—$1 billion yearly from krill and tourism—uplift all. Time locks in post-2048, with 10-year reviews; space splits by longitude (e.g., 0°–60°W), shelves like Ross Sea co-stewarded. Nonlinear risks—China’s bases, oil lust—are tamed by inclusion and green tech delays (e.g., carbon capture). The payoff? Ice endures, wealth spreads—harmony trumps havoc.
The Chilling Doubts
Skeptics sneer: “Sovereignty doesn’t share.” For Atlantis, Greece digs in—30% DNA is their bloodline, Athens polls cry; the Pact’s $5 billion rigs roar ownership, per Wall Street. Time—2,300 years of myth—hardens pride; space—50 miles—chokes compromise. Russian subs loom, trust fractures. In Antarctica, the UK’s 1908 Patent and Argentina’s province are non-negotiable; the U.S. and Russia covet oil, not talks. The Treaty’s freeze holds ‘til 2048—why budge? China’s bases flex power; the Latin bloc falters—Peru’s budget lags, per 2023 figures. Sharing feels like a fairy tale against such ice-hard realities.
But history whispers back: Atlantis’ myth belongs to all—Plato gifted it freely; divers need rigs, rigs need roots. The Treaty rallied 12 nations in 1959, 54 now, per ATS; Latin America’s 11 states share a colonial scar and tongue—cohesion’s possible, per my 2025 analysis. Reason can melt doubt, as it did in ‘59—force it, and it sticks.
Why This Resurfaces in You
Atlantis’ gleam and Antarctica’s chill aren’t just prizes—they’re mirrors: a diver’s heir seeking origins, a researcher guarding a planet’s heartbeat. The Borders We Share bets we can rise—split the depths, not the bonds. Next week, “Narnia’s Ice, Cyprus Split: Thrones in Balance” probes frozen crowns and sundered isles. I’m Dr. Jorge—join me at https://drjorge.world or (https://x.com/DrJorge_World)—let’s surface this together.
Paths to Explore
- Núñez, J.E. (2017). Sovereignty Conflicts (Ch. 6, 7).
- Núñez, J.E. (2020). Territorial Disputes (Ch. 1, 6).
- Núñez, J.E. (2023). Cosmopolitanism and State Sovereignty (Ch. 1, 6, 7).
- Núñez, J.E. (Forthcoming 2025). Territorial Disputes in the Americas (Ch. 9).
NOTE:
New posts every Tuesday.
PREVIOUS POSTS:
- Entangled Worlds, Shared Futures: A New Border Blueprint
- Khemed’s Oil, Crimea’s Shadow: Splitting the Stakes
- Sherlock’s Docks, Ireland’s Edge: Clues to Equal Ground
- 3.1. Bonus
- Sherwood’s Green, Amazon’s Roots: Forests for All
NEXT POSTS:
Section 1: Foundations of the Multiverse (Posts 1–6)
6.Narnia’s Ice, Cyprus Split: Thrones in Balance
Narnian kings divide; Cyprus partition.
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State Sovereignty: Concept and Conceptions (OPEN ACCESS) (IJSL 2024)
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Tuesday 01st April 2025
Dr Jorge Emilio Núñez
X (formerly, Twitter): https://x.com/DrJorge_World
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