Environmental Security in the Arctic: The 'Great Game' vs. Sustainable Security (original) (raw)
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Climate Change & International Security: The Arctic as a Bellwether International
2012
While the two previous findings suggest that the Arctic states are focused on building a cooperative security environment in the region, there is a third, apparently contradictory trend toward modernizing their military forces in the Arctic. Some have already begun rebuilding their Arctic military capabilities, and most of the others are drawing up plans to do so. Consequently, if political cooperation in the region should sour, most of the Arctic nations will have forces that are prepared to compete in a hostile environment. Finding 5: Non-Arctic states and organizations seek roles in the Arctic. The EU and NATO have been examining the issues of governance and security in the Arctic. NATO's initial focus appears to be on improving coordination of security-related issues, such as search and rescue. Given the importance of the region to NATO members such as Canada, Norway and the United States, it seems likely that NATO will remain engaged in the region. The EU's interest is framed in the context of ensuring that new governance mechanisms are designed to include the interests of all European states. The EU has also issued policy statements that place a strong emphasis on protecting the environment. Separate from the EU, France has announced that it plans to provide its military with some Arctic capabilities. Although it has not expressed geopolitical interest in the Arctic, China plans to increase its scientific research activities in the region and has added a strategic studies department to its Polar Research Institute. Finding 6: Underlying causes of policy developments. The principal cause of renewed national interest in the Arctic is the increasing accessibility of Arctic waters resulting from global warming and new maritime technologies. Accessibility leads to the potential for new sea routes or the expansion of old ones, an important issue for both Russia and Canada. Western nations have focused on augmenting scientific research, environmental protection, sustainable development, and a constabulary and military presence. The United States stake in the Arctic is comparatively small, and historically it has tended to act with minimal interest in the region compared with the other Arctic states. Russia has invested tens of billions of dollars in Arctic oil projects, and its recent policy statements and actions suggest that it will act assertively to safeguard its oil wealth and position in the Arctic. Although oil and gas are less central to the core interests of the rest of the circumpolar powers, the importance of Arctic oil will grow for all nations as oil prices continue to rise and the desire for energy security grows. * This section is reproduced from Mabey, et al. (2011) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 license. Minor modifications were made by the original author (J. Gulledge).
Handbook of Research on International Collaboration, Economic Development, and Sustainability in the Arctic, 2019
The geopolitical importance of the Arctic is intensifying with the economic and strategic opportunities being unraveled in the wake of the impact of climate change. The chapter analyses the actors and the factors affecting the current security relations in the region and recommends the creation of a regional security architecture (RSA) to deal with the emerging conflict potential of the Arctic. Through the establishment of an effective RSA for the Arctic, the prime objective of building a security environment that protects the region and promotes sustainable economic growth will be achieved. The chapter has been conceptualized under the broad theme of security studies while drawing specifically from the constructivist-structuralist framework of the regional security complex theory (RSCT).
The North American Arctic: Security Challenges and Opportunities
2020
The world has never been more geopolitically contested, and this has serious implications for both Canada and the US. On a large scale, there are many problems associated with this contestation which concern Canada, including hegemonic struggles, power transitions, and reactionary nationalism. The current globalist/ nationalist divide also has particular implications for the Arctic, with nationalists wanting to confirm ownership and control over decisionmaking, while globalists tend to want to ban activity in the Arctic in an attempt to protect the region. As a coastal state, Canada maintains a nationalist view of the Arctic, meaning that it is concerned with protecting its sovereignty in the region, while also combatting existential threats associated with climate change.
THE STRATEGIC DIMENSION OF CHANGES IN THE ARCTIC SECURITY ENVIRONMENT
Bezpieczeństwo Narodowe 2023/42, 2023
Technological progress and global warming, including rising temperatures, open new transit routes in the Arctic. The availability of natural resources in the region, including oil and gas, uranium and rare earth elements, is increasing. The war caused by Russia in Ukraine also has consequences for the relations between the states in the Arctic region. The aim of the article is to show that the Arctic region is not immune to changes in global security environment. These changes not only result in a redefinition of the international balance of power. Some countries located beyond the Arctic, with supra-regional aspirations, open to new strategic and economic goals in this region. Consequently, Arctic management system is changing and diversifying. It is becoming necessary to develop a new model for managing this region, considering changes in the security environment and much wider spectrum of international actors than ever before. Link: https://www.bezpieczenstwo-narodowe.pl/pdf-170904-100499?filename=The%20strategic%20dimension.pdf
2019
This chapter examines an emerging regional security system in the Arctic. There was a significant shift in the Arctic powers' threat perceptions and security policies in the High North. In contrast with the Cold War era when the Arctic was a zone for the global confrontation between the USSR and the U.S./ NATO, now this region is seen by international players as a platform for international cooperation. The Arctic countries now believe that there are no serious hard security threats to them and that the soft security agenda is much more important. The military power now has new functions, such as ascertaining coastal states' sovereignty over their exclusive economic zones and continental shelves in the region; protecting the Arctic countries' economic interests in the North, and performing some symbolic functions. The Arctic states believe that the regional cooperative agenda could include climate change mitigation, environmental protection, maritime safety, Arctic research, indigenous peoples, cross-and trans-border cooperative projects, culture, etc.