Researcher
Elana Wilson Rowe
Contactinfo and files
Summary
Dr Elana Wilson Rowe is research professor (part time) at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. Wilson Rowe’s research and expertise areas include governance of nature and changing power relations in the Anthropocene, Arctic and ocean governance and geopolitics, and Russian climate and Arctic policymaking. Her publications explore how the interplay of diplomatic practices, security rivalries and expert/environmental knowledge shape outcomes and understandings in regional and global policy fields.
She is the author of Russian Climate Politics: When Science Meets Policy (Palgrave, 2013) and Arctic Governance: Power in cross-border relations (University of Manchester, 2018). She was a member of Norway’s committee establishing research priorities for the UN Ocean Decade. She holds a BA in Russian and Geography from Middlebury College (USA) and an MPhil and PhD in Geography/Polar Studies from the University of Cambridge (2006). More publications and links can be found on Google Scholar.
Wilson Rowe was the PI and led a 5- year major grant from the European Research Council (#80335, 2019-2024. Read more about the Lorax project here). The aim of this project was to understand the broader regional and global repercussions of governance efforts anchored in sub-global ‘ecosystems’ or ‘ecoregions’ and how the power relations enacted around ecosystems shape regional and global ordering. Wilson Rowe has also led projects funded by the Norwegian Research Council, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Ministry of Defence.
Expertise
Education
2002-2006 D. Phil., human geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
2001-2002 M. Phil., human geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
1997-2001 B.A., Geography/Russian, Middlebury College, Vermont, USA
Work Experience
2023- Professor of International Relations, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)
2006- Senior Research Fellow/Research Professor, NUPI
2006-2022 Senior research fellow, NUPI 2010- Adjunct Professor at Nord University
2002-2006 Teaching Assistant/Supervisor, Geography Department, University of Cambridge
Aktivitet
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Clear all filtersFrenemies: Arctic cooperation in conflict and a view from Russia
Lecture to congressional fellows participating in the Wilson Foreign Policy Fellowship Program (Wilson Center, DC)
What to Expect from the Upcoming Russian Chairmanship of the Arctic Council
Presented by CIPS, the Observatoire de la politique et la sécurité de l’Arctique (OPSA), and the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network (NAADSN). The Arctic Council is the primary multilateral forum regrouping Arctic states and people and cooperating on social and environmental issues. Iceland is about to pass the chairmanship to Russia for a 2-year mandate. Russia has already announced major investments and possesses ambitious objective to develop its part of the Arctic. The chairmanship is presented as an excellent opportunity to play an active role in the region. The objective of this conference is to shed light on the strategy and intentions of Russia in relation to its upcoming chairmanship of the Arctic Council. Additionally, panelists will analyse what other Arctic states (Canada, Nordic countries, United States) and people (Indigenous groups) have to expect from the Russian chairmanship and what are the policy debates that these states are likely to face in the next two years.
Frenemies: An Arctic repertoire of cooperation in conflict
Invited speaker, UiO Faculty of Law, 'Security and the Global Commons of Sea and Space'
Non-Arctic countries and Arctic politics
Talk at roundtable seminar organized by Japanese Institute of International Affairs and the Norwegian Embassy in Japan. Part of the NUPI project for the Munich Security Conference.
Invited speaker: Russian climate politics
Invited speaker on Russia's climate politics, at SWP-Berlin's Working Group on Russia: Annual conference, 7 December 2020
Invited talk: Three geopolitical risks in the Arctic and related IR disciplinary troubles
Talk to Fulbright Arctic Scholars on geopolitical risks in the Arctic.
Red Arctic? Affective Geopolitics and the 2007 Russian Flag-planting Incident in the Central Arctic Ocean
This chapter discusses visual representation and Arctic geopolitics, exploring how the image of the flag planted on the Arctic seabed by Russia has persisted as a core visual image of Arctic politics. Using Google Image Search, we compare the pervasiveness of this image with a small selectin of potential image-events of the Arctic, representing different storylines of Arctic politics, and find that they remain comparatively marginal. The chapter considers why the flag-planting image remains so central to Arctic geopolitics by briefly discussion reception and re-use of the flag-planting image in Canada, Russia and the United States.
A Governance and Risk Inventory for a Changing Arctic
In this chapter, Elana Wilson Rowe, Ulf Sverdrup, Karsten Friis, Geir Hønneland, and Mike Sfraga caution against viewing trends of conflict and cooperation in the Arctic in binary terms. While the US and Europe are determined to confront malign activity in the region, all sides continue to “demonstrate a commitment to cooperation and joint solutions to common challenges.” After reviewing the key factors and drivers supporting and challenging stability in the Arctic, the authors remind us that “cooperation in conflict” has long been the norm in the region, allowing cooperative governance to progress despite the enduring NATO-Russia military rivalry. Ongoing dialogue in the region – essential for addressing the regional and global implications of climate change – is poorly served by focussing on “narratives or practices of strategic competition alone.” To avoid “political tipping points” beyond which cooperation will become too difficult, the authors call on policymakers to be more proactive in how they address emerging governance challenges related to security and economic development.
Unexplored resources for EU Arctic policy: Energy, oceans and space
The EUs current Arctic policy from 2016 focuses on climate and environmental protection, sustainable development and international cooperation. The EU has followed up with contributions to research and international cooperation in these areas. However, the EU’s engagement in the Arctic is overlooked internally – with the Arctic perceived of as a marginal arena for policy action – and externally – with a lack of broader recognition for the EU’s Arctic efforts and contributions. We suggest that the EU has perhaps defined its Arctic policy approach - and understood Arctic governance - too narrowly. Arctic policy has been a niche concern in Brussels, and this has resulted in a focused and consistent approach, but involved too few EU actors in Arctic policymaking. Consequently, the EU has unwittingly limited its role in the Arctic and made it even more difficult to formulate a convincing narrative about what the EU has to do with and in the Arctic. In our view, there are three broader policy areas that have untapped potential for giving additional ballast to the EU as an Arctic actor: energy, ocean and space governance.