“People of the North” is a series of interviews created in partnership with Arctic in Context and Kesserwan Arteau, a legal and consulting firm that works with indigenous communities.

This article is part of a series on Russian interests in the Arctic. Russia’s Arctic policies and postures are often misunderstood, overblown, or underrated because they take place in a complex regional context and result from complex internal politics. Morgane Fert-Malka contributes with an analysis, interview, or book review shedding light on this central Arctic player.

By Marwa Maziad Three years ago, while walking the halls of the University of Washington, where I worked, I was drawn to a poster promoting a new course titled “The Arctic as an Emerging Global Region.” As a scholar focused on the Arab Gulf, and particularly the state of Qatar, I was compelled by the

By Morgane Fert-Malka Territorial disputes in the Arctic usually feature in popular media within a narrative of a “race for resources” or militarization on the world’s “last frontier.” This article, not for thrill-seekers, is about a dispute of the tedious kind: the delimitation of the continental shelf in the five Arctic coastal states—Canada, Denmark, Norway,

By Ritikaa Iyer Modernization has often come slower to the Arctic than to the rest of the world. The region’s geography, harsh climate, and higher energy and transportation costs have made the development of infrastructure, health care, and education challenges. For example, the 2017 Arctic Economic Council report on an “Interconnected Arctic” stated that while

This article is part of an Arctic in Context series featuring Winter 2017 Arctic Research Fellows from the International Policy Institute, in the Henry M. Jackson School at the University of Washington. This Arctic research program is dedicated to improving the transfer of research and expertise between higher education and the policy world in the area of global affairs.

This article is part of an Arctic in Context series featuring Winter 2017 Arctic Research Fellows from the International Policy Institute, in the Henry M. Jackson School at the University of Washington. This Arctic research program is dedicated to improving the transfer of research and expertise between higher education and the policy world in the

This article is part of an Arctic in Context series featuring Winter 2017 Arctic Research Fellows from the International Policy Institute, in the Henry M. Jackson School at the University of Washington. This Arctic research program is dedicated to improving the transfer of research and expertise between higher education and the policy world in the

By Natasha Bluth Nestled in an inlet of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, the Soviet mining town of Pyramiden lies quiet and deserted. First founded by Sweden in 1910, the Soviet Union bought Pyramiden in 1927. The state-owned mining company Arktikugol Trust acquired ownership of the town and began operations three years

By Erica Dingman In recent years, the confluence of Arctic warming and rising global energy demand has drawn the region further into the processes of globalization. In the last decade alone, human activity rose by 400 percent attributed to an increase in shipping, mining, and energy exploration, in addition to the comparatively benign activities of