By Klaus Dodds Ever since the Crimean/Ukrainian crisis burst to the fore, Arctic observers have expressed concerns, and even fears, that the spirit of co-operation and dialogue with Russia might be compromised. Subsequent developments, including EU-led sanctions against Russia, added extra zest to those anxieties, as did the downing of the Malaysian airline flight MH-17

By Erica Dingman “Climate change is a key pillar of the United States chairmanship program just as it is, in fact, a key part of the United States foreign policy writ large today.” —John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State, April 24, 2015 Tackling the causes of climate change leading to the unprecedented melting of the

By Heidar Gudjonsson and Egill Thor Nielsson Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962), an Arctic explorer and anthropologist born in Canada to Icelandic parents and later a U.S. citizen, represents in many ways the internationality of today’s Arctic. Over half a century after his death and a century since his first Arctic expedition, the Harvard-educated proponent of a

By Willy Østreng  Until recently, international trade and shipping was closed off to the Arctic because of its harsh climatic conditions. However, in 1922, Arctic explorer Villjamur Stefansson projected this reality to change. “We have not come to the northward limits of communal progress. There is no northern boundary beyond which productive enterprise cannot go

By Sophie des Beauvais On August 2, 2007, the Russian expedition Arktika 2007 planted a Russian flag on the North Pole seabed, descending more than two miles under the ice cap in a pair of submersible vessels. Notably, one third of Russia lies within the Arctic Circle, a region full of natural energy that plays a

By Rob Huebert The Arctic faces a transformation of epic proportions. Formerly a region of isolation from the rest of the world, it was home to only a small number of northern inhabitants such as the Inuit, who had adapted to a very specialized way of life to live there. For the rest of humanity,

By Michael Byers How many Americans realize that one of their country’s most pristine maritime areas is threatened by the unregulated passage of more than 5,000 tankers and cargo ships each year? Since the Earth is a sphere, the shortest shipping route from the Northwest United States and Western Canada to China, Japan, and South

This commentary is a modified excerpt of the article titled “Stephen Harper’s Arctic Paradox,” originally published by the Canada Defense and Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI). By Joël Plouffe Over the last 50 years, American policy in the Far North has been the pillar of Canada’s Arctic sovereignty and security discourse. But Canada’s Arctic region foreign

By Dorothea Wehrmann “Warming Up to Arctic Prospects” “Race is on as Ice Melt Reveals Arctic Treasures” As articles in The New York Times and in The Washington Post exemplify, the Arctic has made national, if not global, headlines—and these articles increasingly rely on powerful and evocative imagery to reach readers. However, mainstream media is

By Sophie des Beauvais Last May, the Arctic Council granted Observer status to six new nations, including China, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. Now housing 12 Observer states, the intergovernmental forum created in 1996 to promote cooperation and coordination among Arctic states, has drawn more attention around the world. Arctic Council Observers can