Assembly. It has not yet gotten on the agenda. In the long 
run it is difficult to see how face-saving, especially impor- 
tant to the nations with overlapping claims, can be ac- 
complished other than by some form of international 
jurisdiction. 
Those of us who have been deeply involved in the Inter- 
national Geophysical Year fervently hope that the experi- 
ences of cooperation there will point the way toward a 
satisfactory solution. Since the geophysicist is inevitably a 
truly international scientist, the IGY may turn out to be a 
brilliant new approach toward international understand- 
ing and organization. The current Antarctic operations 
have been marked by the friendliest kind of cooperation 
from all of the nations involved. ‘The work has proceeded 
without even a discussion of political claims. ‘The location 
of the various bases was agreed upon at an international 
conference in Paris in July, 1955. ‘The principal criterion 
was provision for the best scientific coverage. Our own 
American stations are located in areas currently claimed by 
Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and in 
the still unclaimed sector between 90° W. and 150° W., and 
our South Pole Station occupies territory common to all 
claimants. Great Britain, France, Argentina, Chile, and 
Norway have their bases on land claimed by the respective 
nations, but the Russians are located within the sector 
claimed by Australia. | 
We do believe that precedents are important in the evo- 
lution of civilization. The successful cooperation of the 
IGY in Antarctica and the expectation of a continuing 
international cooperative program in that vast continent 
may provide a pattern that will move over into other areas 
and result in further working together of all nations. 
33 
