The Arctic at the Beginning of the 21st Century, M. Łuszczuk (ed.) - SUMMARY (original) (raw)
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This dissertation will seek to analyse the respective positions of the five ‘Arctic states’ and their policies with regard to the High Northern latitudes of the planet. These five states are Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the USA. Each one of these states has specific and unique characteristics that define and develop their respective policies. This dissertations maintains that whilst the Arctic as a geopolitical space attracts the attention of individuals and organisations from around the world it is fundamentally and undeniably altered and interpreted by these five states and their respective capabilities beyond the influence or ability of any and all other entities save nature. This dissertation does not seek to interpret or deconstruct the legitimacy of states or their right to exist although the relationship between the entity of the state and the Arctic as the natural physical world is observed in the Introduction. From analysis grounded inside the real and functional paradigms of state power and its projection inside the physical space of the Arctic this paper seeks knowledge in interpreting what is important to the ‘Arctic Five’ and how their outlooks, policies and actions have shaped and will shape the Arctic. This dissertation recognises two established and mainstay theories of international relations namely: Realism and Liberalism. The purpose and aim of this paper is to determine with good evidence and reason the nature of state relations within the Arctic and if the political precedent adheres to one theory over the other. However the argument and analysis followed should not entertain exclusion of either theory or discount the value afforded by other, revisionist, readings of international relations theory. Without complication the goal is to identify which pattern takes precedent in the Arctic: state driven strategy or new cooperation. Each of the five Arctic states is taken as its own unique case. Each state has coastline within the Arctic Circle and every state is researching and planning submissions to the Commission on Continental Shelf Extension under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. However, although the states interact and acknowledge each other’s presence and rights within the Arctic each has evaluated the space in a different way. Therefore each state specific chapter looks at the core driving factors behind each state’s Arctic policy and behaviour. These variables are extensive and do not lie easily within traditional political or economic paradigms. This reality renders well the difficulties of Arctic study in the frame of broader, global geopolitical analyses. The finite and delicate environmental nature or the region promotes the constant of uncertainty that has matriculated from scientific/climatic analyses to underpin technological, economic, political and social realities at all levels. Parallel to this is the reality of empty space. The Arctic is barely inhabited and state frameworks, both tangible and theoretical, easily perish in such an unforgiving and remote environment. This paper also includes a chapter on the impact of UNCLOS and the Arctic Council in the region. These forums hold particular and specific relevance to the Arctic and have been prevalent in the respective state policy formulations. Both provide international windows in the Arctic. The Arctic Council is heavily referenced in Arctic policies and viewed as a legitimate forum for state interaction and understanding in the Arctic. UNCLOS also provides a legal framework consistent with normative international law that has led to a previously unseen level of bathymetric data collection as states attempt to map out the possible extent of their underwater continental shelves for submission to international law and the creation of recognised sovereignty and the natural hydrocarbon wealth this entails. Scientific research and finding in the Arctic is extensive and much publicised. This paper will not seek to interpret or drawn down findings from these beyond an understanding that the Arctic is threatened by, and overtly vulnerable to, climate change, that the ice cap is shrinking and that human exploitation of the High North may take a substantial and irreversible toll on the fragile environment there. These realities provide the framework, structure and analysis of this dissertation accordingly. Any form of political analysis of the Arctic will inherently focus on the Arctic Five states as the region’s ‘power containers’ (Giddens). Their interaction and operation in the High North is our medium of understanding.
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The Arctic: Potential for Conflict amidst Cooperation
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Changes in the Arctic topography due to climate change have resulted in the region, which erstwhile was remote with little accessibility, to being accessible with potential natural resources and attractive navigable sea areas. The prospects have also influenced the strategic contours of the Arctic and brought in many actors that view the region as a resource-rich area with viable commercial interests. The Arctic is considered a stable region due to tacit understandings, mutual trust and well established mechanisms. However, there are underlying stress points that cannot be ignored and these include a growing dependency on the region to fuel national energy and a slow militarisation of the region brought about by nations shifting focus on their Arctic military capabilities and capacities. article will examine the growing, albeit slow militarisation that could lead to potential conflict despite the growing cooperation in the Arctic.
The primary purpose of this study is to investigate how climate change reveals new security challenges in the Arctic. Security studies consist of many other issues but only the three most important ones were chosen for this study. Using local and international data, this study was designed to investigate how the strengthening of environmental, human and energy security is possible in a fragile environment and how cooperation among several actors such as states and organisations can be promoted. This thesis also analyses the international relations theories of neorealism, neoliberalism and constructivism and in what extend they applied in this region’s political procedures. This thesis is not an intensive work on international relations theories but uses them as a tool in comprehending the global developments in the Arctic. In a world suffering from conflict and insecurity, the peaceful developments in the Arctic region could act as a paradigm. The Arctic region can provide enormous energy supplies which can oversubscribe the EU’s demand for energy. The results of this study did not support the hypothesis that the exploitation of vast energy resources leads to conflicts among states. On the contrary, it was concluded that cooperation is promoted when there are mutual interests and efficient institutions to monitor the area. There is still time for environmental protection in the Arctic and so far the organisations and the states are trying their best. The indigenous populations have to develop strong identities while their states have to develop adaptation policies for their smooth integration. The selected security issues when analysed under the scope of the three international relations theories provided interesting results. The Arctic paradigm could be extrapolated to the study of areas with similar characteristics but less cooperative actors.