The Arctic
The Arctic is experiencing dramatic climate changes that also make the region available for greater resource exploitation and transport activity. The Arctic is indeed becoming increasing important in international politics.
The term ‘the Artic’ refers to the sea and land areas around the North Pole. The eight countries that border on the Arctic – Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the USA - are all permanent members of the Arctic Council. This area has traditionally been characterized by low tension as well as a low degree of economic exploitation of its natural resources. However, this is now changing, due not least to the effects of climate change.
Questions related to the use of natural resources in the Far North, oil/gas and fish in particular, are central to NUPI’s Arctic research, as are issues of security policy. For Norway, relations to Russia are a major factor in the Far North. Also important is the growing interest shown by other parts of the world in the Artic and its natural resources. A central thematic area for Arctic research at NUPI concerns the effects of climate change, which are already influencing and altering conditions in the region – as seen in the case of the new possibilities for traffic via the Northern Sea Route to Asia.
Sources: Store Norske Leksikon and NUPI.
News about The Arctic
-
The Russia Conference: Cold Peace in the Arctic?
14 Sep 2018On September 14, NUPI’s Russia Conference took place in Oslo. Couldn’t be there? Watch the entire event, including Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide's key note speech, on YouTube.
-
China meets the Nordics at NUPI
6 Sep 2017How does the world appear seen from China and the Nordics?
-
The Arctic buffer
24 Oct 2016Indigenous peoples are safeguarding Arctic cooperation, Elana Wilson Rowe (NUPI) writes in her most recent High North News commentary.
Publications about The Arctic
-
Publication
: ARTIKKEL
Norway and Russia in the Arctic: New Cold War Contamination?
The standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine has already obstructed cooperation across a range of issues. Could it also affect state interaction between Norway and Russia in the Arctic—an area and a relationship long characterized by a culture of compromise and/or cooperation? Here we start... -
Publication
: NUPI Policy Brief
How the New Cold War travelled North (Part II) Interaction between Norway and Russia
This policy brief examines changing Russian and Norwegian approaches to each other in the period 2012–2016, and discusses how the “New Cold War” spread to the North. This is an intriguing question, since both parties had initially stated that, despite the overall worsening of Russia–West relations following... -
Publication
: NUPI Policy Brief
How the New Cold War travelled North (Part I) Norwegian and Russian narratives
The standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine has already obstructed cooperation across a range of issues. Could it also affect state interaction between Norway and Russia in the Arctic—an area and a relationship long characterized by a culture of compromise and cooperation? In two policy briefs...
Research projects about The Arctic
-
Photo: Nonac_Digi/Creative Commons/CC BY NC-SA 2.0
Research project
The International Panel on Arctic Environmental Responsibility
2018 - 2022 (Ongoing)The International Panel on Arctic Environmental Responsibility is an independent and free-standing body tasked with assessing the environmental status of oil, gas, and mining companies in the Arctic.
-
Foto: Jechstra/Creative Commons/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Research project
Great Powers and Arctic Politics (GPARC)
2017 - 2020 (Ongoing)GPARC aims to provide up-to-date academic and policy analyses of how major powers (USA, Russia, China) set parameters for and intervene in the maritime politics of the Arctic.
-
Research project
Can cooperative Russian and Western Arctic policies survive the current crisis in Russian-Western relations? (CANARCT)
2016 - 2019 (Ongoing)This project addresses Russia's Arctic policy provisions compared with other states. Can cooperative Russian and Western Arctic policies survive the current crisis in Russian-Western relations?