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UNITED STATES POLICY WITH REGARD TO ANTARCTICA1
                           Editorial Note
  Throughout 1952, officials of the Departments of State and De-
fense intermittently considered and discussed the issue of national
claims in the Antarctic area. In April 1953, the Department of
State took the lead in inviting other agencies to participate in
formal, ongoing discussions of Antarctic policy through the forma-
tion of two interagency groups. As a result, two groups were
formed. The Technical Group on Antarctica was charged with ar-
riving at anaccurate determination and description, for use mainly
within the government, of all Antarctic localities to which possible
United States claims might plausibly be advanced. The Ad Hoc
Group on Antarctica agreed at its First Meeting on April 23 that
the central problem   to be faced was to "determine precisely the
nature and extent of U.S. objectives in the Antarctic." Documenta-
tion on the development of interagency working groups on the Ant-
arctic is in the basic Antarctic central file 702.022.
  1For previous documentation on this subject, see Foreign Relations, 1951,
vol. i,
pp. 1715 ff.
031.1102/4-753
Memorandum by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe-
  an Affairs (Bonbright) to the Deputy Under Secretary of State
  (Matthews)
SECRET                                  WASHINGTON, April 7, 1953.
Subject: Department's Preliminary Position on Proposed Antarctic
    Expedition
  iDrafted by Grant G. Hilliker of the Office of British Commonwealth and
North-
ern European Affairs. A covering memorandum to Deputy Assistant Secretary
Bon-
bright from Frederick E. Nolting, Special Assistant to the Deputy Under Secretary
of State reads: "Mr. Matthews concurs in the recommendation of the attached
memorandum. He has asked me to follow up on any action with Defense that
you
may wish this office to undertake."
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