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
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NUPI@MSC: How do we meet the challenges in a changing Arctic?
13 Feb 2020Read joint NUPI-Wilson Center report on Arctic security discussed at MSC 2020.
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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.
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China meets the Nordics at NUPI
6 Sep 2017How does the world appear seen from China and the Nordics?
Publications about The Arctic
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Publication
: Report
The Geopolitics of Fish in the Arctic
2020Climate change and declining sea-ice in the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO) has brought concerns that fish stocks may expand into the high Arctic. While the sub-Arctic seas of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic have abundant fish resources subject to major commercial fisheries for generations, the CAO... -
Publication
: Academic article
Russian Expert and Official Geopolitical Narratives on the Arctic: Decoding Topical and Paradigmatic DNA
2020This article examines current Russian expert and official narratives on the Arctic, situating them in the broader context of the debate on Russia’s role in the international system. Combining a critical geopolitics approach to the study of international relations with content analysis tools, we map how... -
Publication
: Academic article
Governing the Arctic: The Russian State Commission for Arctic Development and the Forging of a New Domestic Arctic Policy Agenda
2019After a period of relative neglect in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Arctic is back on the agenda of the Russian authorities. To ensure efficient coordination and implementation of its Arctic strategy, the government in 2015 established a State Commission for Arctic Development. It was to serve as a...
Research projects about The Arctic
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Research project
Flanks: Security Challenges in Northern and Southern Europe (FLANKS)
2020 - 2021 (Ongoing)The aim of this project is to develop enhanced knowledge of Russia's behaviour in the Kola Peninsula and the Arctic region, as well as in the Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea region – and to compare...
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Photograph: Allan Hopkins/Creative Commons/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Research project
The Lorax Project: Understanding Ecosystemic Politics (LORAX)
2019 - 2023 (Ongoing)Do regional politics around border-crossing ecosystems share important resemblances and differ in significant ways from global politics?
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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.