Melting Boundaries

• Task Force Report
• Expert Evaluation Presentation
• Task Force Poster

For students of international studies, the Arctic provides an opportunity to be on the cutting edge of current foreign policy issues. The Arctic Governance Task Force 2011 team (including two students from the Inuit region of Nunavik, Québec) will have the opportunity to present a background paper on critical issues facing the Arctic region today. In September 2010 an international summit was held in Moscow to address increased interest in the Arctic and, according to BBC, to “try to prevent the Arctic becoming the next battleground over mineral wealth.” The potential conflict is due to the fact that the world’s largest undiscovered oil and gas reserves lie north of the Arctic Circle. The Northwest and Northeast passages are opening to shipping, cutting thousands of miles off the traditional routes through the Panama and Suez canals. There are the eight Arctic nations (Russia, Canada, the United State, Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland); the Arctic Council established to foster cooperation in the region; eight Aboriginal groups that sit on the Council; and a host of non-Arctic nations with interest in the region. The Arctic Governance 2011 team will draft a set of policy proposals – integrating new international relations theories and Aboriginal governance models – to recommend how the Arctic nations and peoples should work together to effectively govern this region that has captured the world’s attention.

The Task Force team will travel to Ottawa for a one-week research trip (January 29-February 5) to participate in meeting with Foreign Affairs and Indian and Northern Affairs, Canada; Arctic nation embassies; Inuit associations; and other stakeholders in the Arctic.

Task Force Instructors

Vincent Gallucci Vincent Gallucci is a professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences; adjunct in the Jackson School and the School for Marine Affairs and is director of the Center for Quantitative Sciences in Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife. His research focus is the management of fishery resources in developing countries and upon coldwater fisheries in the Bering/Arctic seas. He has experience in Russia and published in the Russian Fisheries Science literature. He will help develop the scientific / political aspects of the Russian Federation’s perspective in the Arctic debate. He has taught with a colleague a course on marine policy for over ten years. He serves on a Arctic Biodiversity Assessment team appointed by the Arctic Council helping represent diversity in both Arctic ecosystems and marine fishes. This will help establish a baseline for change that may occur due to global climatic or anthropomorphic factors. For more information:www.fish.washington.edu/people/gallucci/.

Nadine C. Fabbi Nadine C. Fabbi is currently researching Canadian Inuit political mobilization in the Arctic region – both geopolitical self-determination and emerging strategies in educational policy. In 2010 she was awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship from University of the Arctic and the Government of Canada for her proposal, “Arctic Educational Policies and their Impact on Canada’s Leadership Role in the Circumpolar World.” In 2007 Nadine utilized a Government of Canada Faculty Research Grant, “Inuit Homelands in Canada” to design the first Task Force on the Arctic. In 2009 she was awarded a Program Enhancement Grant to take 13 University of Washington students to Ottawa as part of the first Task Force on Arctic Sovereignty co-taught with Professor Gallucci. Nadine has travelled to Alaska, the Yukon, Greenland, Iceland and Siberia and has taught two summer programs on Inuit homelands for the University of Alberta. In 2008 she was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the International Council for Canadian Studies in recognition of her contributions to Canadian Studies. She is currently enrolled in a doctoral program in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of British Columbia.

Expert Evaluator

Editors

Kelsey Barrett Major: International Studies Minor: Political Science I am interested in the governance of the Arctic region because it is an emerging issue in international studies, attracting political attention and spurring competition among countries vying for ownership of newly exposed natural resources. Having read Elinor Ostrom’s Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, this Task Force interests me, from a conceptual standpoint, as a critical, real-life, common pool resource situation. I want to see what institutional arrangement of rules or laws could be devised to incentivize individuals and groups towards productive, cooperative and mutually beneficial ends.

Scott Halliday Major: International Studies, Pre-Med Minor: Global Health I am interested in exploring how the intersection between Arctic governance, indigenous rights, and climate change contributes to the determinants of health for people living in the Arctic region. How can international policy and governance lead to the best health outcomes for people living in this strategical Arctic region? I am very excited to travel to Ottawa and to learn as much as possible about Arctic governance!

Advisory Editor

Colleen Kennedy Major: International Studies; Foreign Peace, Security, and Diplomacy I am an International Studies major focusing on Foreign Policy and Diplomacy. Within our Task Force, I am researching the possibilities, benefits, and consequences of the Arctic Council accepting the European Union as a permanent observer. I am working to discover what, if any, sovereign power the Arctic Council could gain by collaborating with non-Arctic states and international organizations. My person career goals include receiving a Masters degree in Public Policy and working as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer.

Ottowa Editor

Zeina Hamed Major: International Studies, Communication Due to my upbringing in a bi-cultural household, I have gained a vast appreciation for the study of international relations, the opportunity to travel overseas and the ability to assimilate into (and gain knowledge of) other cultures. I wish to incorporate these qualities into our work examining the challenges facing the Arctic Region. I am eager to contribute a chapter to the report which discusses the background/current uses of the Northwest Passage. In doing so, I will help to formulate recommendations which will develop the legal status of the Passage – that is, under what circumstances may the strait be used, and by whom. Both my mother (raised in Alaska) and father have previously traveled above the Arctic Circle and I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to visit the region!

Coordinator

Victoria Choe Major: International Studies Minor: Environmental Studies Being born to a missionary family, my sisters and I traveled with my parents from Ukraine to Kazakhstan, Siberia, and Kyrgystan, many times under difficult circumstances my sisters and I were left behind with various church members. As much as I used to blame my parents for not having a “best friend” or a “real” home, they always encouraged me to be like water: be flexible, so that I can mold in different countries among different cultures, but yet strong, so I could not be broken into pieces and lose my identity.

Task Force Members

	John Bryan Major: International Studies Minor: Political Science I am researching the effects of climate change and increased economic activity in the Arctic environment. I am looking at some specific case studies in Svalbard, Norway and the Barents Sea among others to better understand the challenges facing the health of the Arctic ecosystem and the primary stakeholders in the region.
	Monica Chahary Major: International Studies, Comparative History of Ideas Minor: Slavic Languages My interest in the Arctic revolves predominately around Indigenous peoples and how they exercise their sovereignty and goverance over a region where they have lived for hundreds of years. The focus for my chapter in our Taskforce report is on food security and how it relates to cultural integrity and sovereignty. I’m second generation Polish-American and, outside living in Poland breifly, I was raised mostly in a small farming town in Western Washington. I’m excited to explore more about Canada and the Arctic!
	Griffith Couser Major: International Studies: Security & Foreign Policy I am thrilled to be able to study the Arctic region and interview experts on a variety of issues. Of particular interest to me is Arctic security issues. I am researching how military assets can be used to promote greater cooperation between nations, and aid in essential functions like disaster response and search and rescue, among others. I am interested in finding perspectives and insights about the militarization of the region, and hopefully finding ways to prevent conflict and unnecessary military build-ups. I am also interested in the Arctic Council and how it can be transformed into a better tool to address these issues.
	Kitty Gordon Communications Director, Makivik Corporation I was born and raised in the small community of Kuujjuaq. The first time I saw the city of Montreal I was eight and it had an impact on me in a way that made me realize just how big the world really is. I remember being amazed at how tall the buildings were, how there was numerous cars and how many different ethnicities I saw. The way I saw the world had changed forever. Being a part of this task force is also changing the way I see the Arctic, my home. I feel privileged to be able to work with the UW professors and students.
	Jennifer Grosman I look forward to further my understanding of Arctic Governance especially in the arena of natural resource development. The Arctic is emerging as a critical international issue largely because of the recent availability of natural resources. I am most excited to examine the relationship between environmental commitments and natural resource activity. On a side note, I had an amazing time backpacking through Western and Eastern Europe this summer and I look forward to exploring North American a little more during our visit to Ottawa.
	Ahnalee Herke Major: International Studies, Political Science I am researching commercial maritime activity and shipping in the Arctic. I am particularly interested in how governance of the Arctic will affect shipping and what cooperative measures the Arctic nations and international organizations are taking to provide an adequate regulatory framework for commercial maritime activity in the Arctic. On a personal note, I’m of German and Swedish decent and I grew up on a farm in Eastern Washington.
	Lauren Hruska Major: International Studies: Foreign Policy I am absolutely thrilled at the opportunity to not only work on a task force tackling Arctic governance, but for the privilege of traveling to Ottawa, an experience that will surely enrich and strengthen our research. Due to climate change, dramatic changes have been and are currently affecting the Arctic, one of which is the decreased amount and thickness of ice in the area known as the Northwest Passage. I am currently researching the Northwest Passage and the implications globally of a significantly shorter sea route that connects the Atlantic to the Pacific. I am formulating recommendations specifically in terms of what Canada and the United State’s roles will be, perhaps bilateral or multilateral, in terms of protecting the fragile Arctic ecosystem due to the likelihood of increased transportation, shipping, and resource extraction.
	Lisa Koperqualuk Major: Political Science I am an advisor at Makivik Corporation based in Quebec City. I am finishing up my Master’s degree in Anthropology at Laval University. I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in Montreal and began working for Makivik Corporation in 2002 in the communications department. I took a two year leave of absence to research my interest in anthropology, which relates to religious and political dynamics of her community of birth, Puvirnituq. My present research for the Task Force on Arctic Governance is focused on education in the Arctic and bringing recognition of maqaittiitiuniq, Inuit hunters, fishers and trappers, as a profession.
	Dominic Maltais Major: International Studies Minor: Latin American Studies Being a French Canadian (from Québec city) and having developed a particular interest for Indigenous politics, I am focusing my research for this Task Force on Québec and its initiatives in terms of cooperation with Inuit and Cree communities.
	Kelly Miller Majors: International Studies, Euro Studies, and Germanics I am focusing my research on the development of land claims agreements as a promising model of resource co-management, community-based governance, and sovereignty-sharing structures in the Arctic. Nunavut as a case study demonstrates how internal public administration coupled with jurisdiction over settlement lands can yield positive results for peace, stability, and human security in the region. I am originally from Portland, OR and study International Studies, European Studies, and Germanics; my Jackson School “track” is Ethnicities and Nationalities.
	Kim Selling Major: International Studies — Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, International Peace & Security I am fascinated by cultural misappropriation and the impact of local sovereignty, and I plan on delving into the public education and health sectors of the region and exploring how these communities could be better served by their government. I come from a Latvian background, so my interest in the Arctic region is not just intellectual; I would love to see firsthand how Northern communities are dealing with current issues and apply that experience to my own knowledge of the region.