Polar Geopolitics - Arctic and Antarctic analysis

Arctic Council's ambivalent engagement with climate change

Despite the Arctic Council’s core mission of promoting sustainable development and environmental protection, it has to date done little to actually combat climate change. According to Dr. Annika Nilsson — an expert on Arctic politics at the Stockholm Environment Institute — this ambivalence towards climate mitigation constitutes one dimension of what she calls the “Arctic Paradox”. In the first part of her interview with the Polar Geopolitics podcast, Dr. Nilsson provides historical context and current perspective on the environment and energy-related aspects of the paradox in Arctic politics. 

(Image: Riccardo Pravettoni)

The Geopolitics of Greenland within the Kingdom of Denmark: Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen pt. 2

The economic development and political evolution of Greenland, whether remaining within the Kingdom of Denmark or eventually as an entirely independent country, is an ongoing process and open question of enormous consequence for the geopolitics of the greater Arctic. In the second part of the interview with the Polar Geopolitics podcast, Dr. Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, an international relations scholar and expert on Danish-Greenlandic politics, shares his insights on the dynamics and future prospects of this critical relationship, as well as the roles played by China and the United States in influencing developments in the resource-rich and strategically-located largest island in the world.

Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen pt. 1: Arctic governance and the A5 ten years after Ilulissat

Representatives of Arctic governments recently returned to Greenland to commemorate the 10^th anniversary of the 2008 meeting in Ilulissat—the somewhat controversial gathering of the so-called “A5” Arctic Ocean littoral states that left other regional actors feeling excluded. In the first of a two-part interview, Associate Prof. Jon Rahbek-Clemmesen of the Royal Danish Defence College, who co-authored a report on the Ilulissat Initiative, shares his insights into contemporary Arctic governance and the inconspicuous yet enduring relevance of the A5, ten years after the Ilulissat Declaration.

Klaus Dodds pt. 2: UK Arctic Policy, Arctic Council and potential British Antarctic strategy

In this second part of his interview with Polar Geopolitics, Prof. Klaus Dodds discusses the recently-updated British Arctic policy Beyond the Ice: UK policy towards the Arctic; elaborates on relations with Russian in the context of Arctic politics; shares his outlook on the Arctic Council’s role in upholding the liberal international order; and considers the possibility of Great Britain eventually publishing a strategy for Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.

Klaus Dodds pt. 1: Geopolitics, Ross Sea MPA, and CAO fisheries moratorium

In the inaugural episode of the podcast, Klaus Dodds, political geographer and Professor of Geopolitics at Royal Holloway University of London, explains the ways in which the geopolitics of the polar regions are distinct from other parts of the globe. The discussion with Prof. Dodds further includes two recent cases of marine spatial planning—the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area, and the fisheries moratorium in the Central Arctic Ocean—that illustrate some of the major themes of the Polar Geopolitics podcast, i.e. the intersection of environmental protection,  economic exploitation, science diplomacy and international relations in the polar regions.

The discussion in this episode is inspired by the article Antarctic Geopolitics and the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area by Klaus Dodds and Cassandra Brooks.