The British government is preparing to claim a large chunck of the ocean in the South Atlantic which The Guardian headine wonders is a “new British empire.” The plan is noteworthy because it shows another example of how concepts of empire and imperialism remain relevant in the realm of economic resource exploitation.

Britain is preparing territorial claims on tens of thousands of square miles of the Atlantic Ocean floor around the Falklands, Ascension Island and Rockall in the hope of annexing potentially lucrative gas, mineral and oil fields, the Guardian has learned.

The UK claims, to be lodged at the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, exploit a novel legal approach that is transforming the international politics of underwater prospecting.

Britain is accelerating its process of submitting applications to the UN - which is fraught with diplomatic sensitivities, not least with Argentina - before an international deadline for registering interests.

The complete article from The Guardian: “The new British empire? UK plans to annex south Atlantic”