From the Northwest Passage to the Canadian Inland Waters: Political History of the Canadian Arctic Waters (original) (raw)

Reconsidering the Northwest Passage in US Canada Relations

Reconsidering the Northwest Passage: Arctic Sovereignty and Continental Security in US-Canada Relations, 2024

The Northwest Passage is core to Canada’s national identity. Canadian asserts sovereignty over what it considers to be its historical internal waters, while the United States insists that the Passage is an international strait. Despite these divergent legal positions, this book charts enduring cooperation and collaboration between the two allies, who balanced sovereignty and continental security as the Arctic grew in geostrategic importance during World War II and the Cold War. Adopting a broader definition of continental security in light of climate change and new threats to the Arctic in the post-Cold War era, Elliot-Meisel argues that, in the interests of North American security, United States should recognize Canadian sovereignty over the Passage, while Canada should welcome a regular U.S. presence in the Passage.

From the Land of Ice and Snow: Inuit, Ice and the Northwest Passage

2019

The Canadian Arctic is home to the Inuit peoples of Canada. They have lived in the north of Canada since time immemorial. They maintain a special relationship to the environment in which they live, including the ice upon which they live, hunt and travel. As the globe warms, the poles are melting faster than the rest of the world. It is anticipated that ice free summers will be a reality in the Northwest Passage through Canada’s Arctic Archipelago before the end of the century. This has opened the world to a shipping option outside of the Suez or Panama Canals. The routes through the north of Canada, known collectively as the Northwest Passage, are predicted to offer shorter and cheaper shipping between China and Europe. The world wants in. But the Northwest Passage has not yet been classified in international law. The Canadian government asserts that the Passage is part of their internal waters while the Americans have insisted that the Passage is an international strait through Canada’s territorial waters. An international strait would not allow for any meaningful limitation to the right of innocent passage. The Canadian government would not be able to regulate the passage of ships in the Passage so as to protect the interests and human rights of the Inuit people. The passage of ships through the Northwest Passage is known to cause problems with the ice formation, which puts the Inuit in a position of greater food insecurity and possible forced deportation. The only option for America to have this issue decided is via the International Court of Justice. The ICJ has indicated that the role of ice is legally different from that of water, but how far they will take that is uncertain. The Canadian government, having failed to raise UNDRIP in the past, must assert Inuit rights in positioning themselves as the proper State to regulate passage through the Northwest Passage for the protection of the Canadian Inuit. This creates a difficult task for a government with a limited acceptance domestically of UNDRIP. They must prove their arguments on the law of the sea, as well as argue for the status of UNDRIP as customary international law or reflecting general principles of international law. Failure to do so will leave the Northwest Passage open to increased shipping, putting the rights of the Inuit to self-determination at risk.

The Northwest Passage Dispute

Sustainable Security, 2018

This is an article written for the Oxford Research Group "Sustainable Security" series. It gives an overview of the dispute of the Northwest Passage and discusses factors which will contribute to the evolution of the dispute in the 21st century. This short contribution summarizes and adds to the research recently published by the author through Palgrave Macmillan, Danita Catherine Burke, 2018, International Disputes and Cultural Ideas in the Canadian Arctic (http://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319619163) and in a previous journal article, Danita Catherine Burke, 2017, ‘Leading by example: Canada and its Arctic stewardship role’, International Journal of Public Policy, 13(1-2), pp. 36-52 (https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJPP.2017.081050).

GAINING COMMAND & CONTROL OF THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE STRAIT TALK ON SOVEREIGNTY

Transportation Law Journal, 2007

This paper is an exploration of the substantive merit of Canada’s position on the Northwest Passage (NWP), that the waters of the Arctic Archipelago through which the NWP passes are its internal waters. In particular, is Canada justified in its claim and what legal premises support its position? And, furthermore in view of the conflicting claim of the United States of its right of innocent passage through an international strait what probable means of middle ground may be employed to amicably resolve this dispute between two of the worlds most neighborly nations.

On Uncertain Ice: The Future of Arctic Shipping and the Northwest Passage

2014

The Arctic sea-ice is in a state of rapid decline. Barriers to navigation that once doomed the likes of Sir John Franklin and closed the shortcut to the Orient now seem to be melting away. The prospect of shorter, transpolar transportation routes linking Asian and Western markets has inspired excitement and fear, and particularly the latter when it comes to Canadian sovereignty. This paper confirms recent studies suggesting that, in spite of the general trend towards reduced ice cover in the Arctic Basin, environmental variability, scarce infrastructure and other navigational aids, and uncertain economics make it unlikely that the Northwest Passage will emerge as a viable trans-shipping route in the foreseeable future. Instead, the region is likely to witness a steady increase in resource, resupply, and tourist destinational shipping. Accordingly, concerns that this increased activity will adversely affect Canadian sovereignty are misplaced. Rather than calling into question Canadia...

Connecting Atlantic and Pacific: Theorizing the Arctic

Atlantic Studies, 2018

This essay sets out to theorize the "new" Arctic Ocean as a pivot from which our standard map of the world is currently being reconceptualized. Drawing on theories from the fields of Atlantic and Pacific studies, I argue that the changing Arctic, characterized by melting ice and increased accessibility, must be understood both as a space of transit that connects Atlantic and Pacific worlds in unprecedented ways, and as an oceanic world and contact zone in its own right. I examine both functions of the Arctic via a reading of the dispute over the Northwest Passage (which emphasizes the Arctic as a space of transit) and the contemporary assessment of new models of sovereignty in the Arctic region (which concentrates on the circumpolar Arctic as an oceanic world). However, both of these debates frequently exclude indigenous positions on the Arctic. By reading Canadian Inuit theories on the Arctic alongside the more prominent debates, I argue for a decolonizing reading of the Arctic inspired by Inuit articulations of the "Inuit Sea." In such a reading, Inuit conceptions provide crucial interventions into theorizing the Arctic. They also, in turn, contribute to discussions on indigeneity, sovereignty, and archipelagic theory in Atlantic and Pacific studies.