The team of The Arctic Institute will be at Arctic Frontiers in Tromso, Norway from 20-25 January, 2013. To see what our team members will be presenting on, click here. We'd love to see you at any of our presentations or meet up over a coffee. We'll also be collaborating with Arctic Frontiers and with the Geopolitics in the High North program on a series of interviews with speakers at the conference and members of the Young Scientists' Forum; to follow these podcasts, you can subscribe to our stream on iTunes.
The Arctic Online
Tom Fries, with Rachael Petersen
Wednesday 23 January, 12:00 at the Nordnorsk vitensenter
Arctic issues are increasingly influenced by what is debated and discussed online and in social media. Tom & Rachael will examine the ways in which indigenous groups, environmental organizations, politicians and ordinary individuals are using an online presence to influence Arctic policy, and we'll train you in the different ways you can use Twitter to become a better researcher, influence policy, build a reputation for yourself and network with your peers. For more info or to plan a meet-up at the conference, send Tom an email.
The Future of Arctic Shipping Along the Transpolar Sea Route
Malte Humpert & Andreas Raspotnik
Poster session. Thursday 24 Jan - 16:15-18:00
Arctic sea ice is melting rapidly, and within the next decade polar warming may transform the region from an inaccessible frozen desert into a seasonally navigable ocean. The debate over Arctic shipping routes routinely revolves around the Northwest Passage (NWP) and the Northern Sea Route (NSR), but neglects to make mention of the Transpolar Sea Route (TSR). In the 20th century the use of Polar routes revolutionized international air travel. In similar fashion, the TSR bears the potential to transform the international commercial shipping industry in the 21st century. The authors will discuss the potential of the TSR as a future corridor of commercial shipping and conduct a comprehensive analysis of the climatic, legal, economic, and geopolitical context. Read more
For more info or to plan a meet-up at the conference, send Malte or Andreas an email.
From 'Great Wall' to 'Great White North': Explaining China's Politics in the Arctic
Malte Humpert & Andreas Raspotnik
Poster session. Thursday 24 Jan - 16:15-18:00
Over the past decade, the Arctic has moved into the focus of world politics. As Arctic sea ice melts at a rapid rate, regional and international actors are strengthening their local involvement, thus further focusing international attention on the region. External Arctic actors, primarily the European Union and the People’s Republic of China, but potentially also India and South Korea, aim to profit from the region’s various prospects. This paper will examine China’s future role in the region. The authors will argue that against prevailing perceptions, geoeconomics only plays a subordinate role in China’s Arctic endeavor. While the region may hold significant economic potential, China’s global economic ‘line-up’ indicates that the country’s immediate economic future is not necessarily located in the Arctic. Read more
For more info or to plan a meet-up at the conference, send Malte or Andreas an email.
An Arctic Security Community?
Kathrin Keil
Wednesday 23 Jan - 15:20-15:30
According to institutionalist approaches, potentially confrontational interests in international politics can be managed through the establishment of effective international institutions. It would however be puzzling from an institutionalist approach if confrontational behaviour does not occur despite both conflicting interests and the absence of appropriate institutions. Yet this is precisely the situation of the contemporary Arctic. The Arctic can be characterised as a region with both weak institutions and an increased potential for conflict, due primarily to the increasing accessibility of the Arctic and ostensibly ever-rising stakes in Arctic commodities. Read more
For more info or to plan a meet-up at the conference, send Kathrin an email.
For more info or to plan a meet-up at the conference, send Kathrin an email.
Developing North American Arctic offshore oil and gas
Andreas Osthagen
Friday 25 Jan - 09:30-9:40
The decision of whether or not to develop new offshore areas in the Arctic encompasses not only energy issues, but also how development will affect indigenous people, the marine environment, regional development, climate change, and energy security. Of particular interest is offshore development in North America, as this part of the Arctic has seen the most rapid changes in terms of opening up for exploratory drillings in coastal waters. Read more
For more info or to plan a meet-up at the conference, send Andreas an email.
Emergency Response Management in the Arctic - Driver for Cooperation?
Andreas Raspotnik & Stefan Steinicke
Wednesday 23 Jan - 16:20-16:30
Climate change in the Arctic offers huge economic opportunities. The steady decrease of sea ice might lead to easier extraction of hydrocarbon resources and shorten maritime transport routes from the Atlantic to the Pacific, thereby further integrating the Arctic into the global economy. However, economic activities are confronted by a harsh climate, the vastness of the region as well as a lack of sufficient support infrastructure and corresponding capabilities. The build-up of support infrastructure for maritime traffic and natural resource extraction will hold an exceptionally prominent role in coming years. Read more
For more info or to plan a meet-up at the conference, send Andreas an email.
Strategic Planning in European Union Policy Towards the Arctic - the Case of Arctic Shipping and Energy Resources
Andreas Raspotnik & Malgorzata Smieszek
Poster session. Thursday 24 Jan - 16:15-18:00
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interrelated sectors of Arctic hydrocarbon resource exploitation and shipping as components of strategic planning in the policy-making of the European Union (EU) towards the Arctic region. The authors will conduct an exemplary SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities, and Threats/Constraints) analysis for the EU's maritime transport and energy policies. These two policy areas are not only considered of fundamental importance for future developments in the Arctic region but also exemplify the potentially greatest economic benefits for the EU. Read more
For more info or to plan a meet-up at the conference, send Andreas an email.
Strategic Planning in European Union Policy Towards the Arctic - the Case of Arctic Shipping and Energy Resources
Andreas Raspotnik & Malgorzata Smieszek
Poster session. Thursday 24 Jan - 16:15-18:00
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interrelated sectors of Arctic hydrocarbon resource exploitation and shipping as components of strategic planning in the policy-making of the European Union (EU) towards the Arctic region. The authors will conduct an exemplary SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities, and Threats/Constraints) analysis for the EU's maritime transport and energy policies. These two policy areas are not only considered of fundamental importance for future developments in the Arctic region but also exemplify the potentially greatest economic benefits for the EU. Read more
For more info or to plan a meet-up at the conference, send Andreas an email.
Kathrin Keil, Andreas Østhagen and Andreas Raspotnik will be blogging live from Arctic Frontiers 2012 starting Monday, January 23nd. The Arctic Frontiers 2012 policy section (1st & 2nd conference day, 23-24 January 2012) can be watched live in English and Russian here.
You can listen to interviews with Kathrin, Andreas R., and Andreas Ø here, here and here.
The Prominence of Arctic Energy Resources
The Arctic Institute (TAI) was presented by Kathrin Keil, PhD Candidate at the Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies (BTS) at the Freie Universität Berlin. In her presentation the TAI’s Research Associate took a closer look at the case of Arctic oil and gas resources and the stakes therein in order to find out if the northern region of the globe is likely to become a new region of contention. While the ‘conflict camp’ in IR evokes the next Cold War about Arctic resources given rising energy demands, the crucial meaning of energy to a country’s security interests and the weak institutions governing the region, the ‘institutionalist camp’ points to the well-institutionalised state of the High North and thus does not expect open conflict to break out. Both camps, however, share the same underlying assumptions of existing and rising stakes towards Arctic oil and gas. Kathrin’s main argument is that this underlying assumption has not been empirically established yet, so she outlined the actual stakes involved by examining Arctic oil and gas interests of the five Arctic littoral states. Kathrin used three indicators to determine the five Arctic littoral states’ Arctic oil and gas interests: overall standing of the Arctic, specifically security relevance, market relevance and identity, cultural and historical relevance of the Arctic and its resources. The following table summarises the empirical results.
Kathrin concluded that the five Arctic coastal states show not only different levels of interests, but also different reasons for their interest in the High North. Further, the countries concerned are unlikely to enter into a geopolitical ‘race’ for the region’s resources. While Russia has the biggest Arctic resource base, the US and Canada are not dependent on these resources and their exploitation given the two countries’ own vast resource bases. And given that the high importance of Arctic oil and gas in Norway and Greenland is primarily focused on the exploitation of the national resource base, also these two countries are not expected to join any confrontational ‘cold rush’ about Russia’s resources. If any conflict about Arctic natural resources were to arise, it will most likely concern complicated business relationships between the Russian state and foreign oil and gas companies wanting to get a share of Russia’s vast hydrocarbon base to satisfy especially high European demand. Much will thus depend on how Russia will handle the delicate balancing act of needing foreign involvement to expand its oil and gas production and wanting to keep the production of these resources as strategic and thus as far away as possible from foreign hands. posted by Andreas Raspotnik 3.33pm
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Marine Transport Infrastructure Challenges in the Arctic On the 4th day of the Arctic Frontiers Conference 2012 the Oslo School of Architecture and Design organized the side event “Territorial Practises”. In his presentation Bjørn Gunnarsson, Managing Director of the Center for High North Logistics (CHNL) outlined the possibilities and challenges the Northern Sea Route (NSR) offers as an supplementary maritime route to the traditional Suez-Route. Additionally to the striking advantages with regard to time, fuel, cost and environmental savings, Gunnarsson was well aware of the occurring uncertainties. How safe and reliable is a possible transit? Russia, as the concerned littoral state, regulates shipping (e.g. transit fee, technical requirements) based on several national and international laws, regulations and guidelines: the Russian “Regulation for Navigating on the Seaway of the NSR, 1990”; UNCLOS, Article 234; the “Guide for Navigation through the NSR, 1996 (NSR Guidelines)”. In addition to several other issues that need to be solved (→ security issues; the high cost of insurance; the legal an
You can listen to interviews with Kathrin, Andreas R., and Andreas Ø here, here and here.
Friday, January 27, 2012
The Prominence of Arctic Energy Resources
The Arctic Institute (TAI) was presented by Kathrin Keil, PhD Candidate at the Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies (BTS) at the Freie Universität Berlin. In her presentation the TAI’s Research Associate took a closer look at the case of Arctic oil and gas resources and the stakes therein in order to find out if the northern region of the globe is likely to become a new region of contention. While the ‘conflict camp’ in IR evokes the next Cold War about Arctic resources given rising energy demands, the crucial meaning of energy to a country’s security interests and the weak institutions governing the region, the ‘institutionalist camp’ points to the well-institutionalised state of the High North and thus does not expect open conflict to break out. Both camps, however, share the same underlying assumptions of existing and rising stakes towards Arctic oil and gas. Kathrin’s main argument is that this underlying assumption has not been empirically established yet, so she outlined the actual stakes involved by examining Arctic oil and gas interests of the five Arctic littoral states. Kathrin used three indicators to determine the five Arctic littoral states’ Arctic oil and gas interests: overall standing of the Arctic, specifically security relevance, market relevance and identity, cultural and historical relevance of the Arctic and its resources. The following table summarises the empirical results.
Kathrin concluded that the five Arctic coastal states show not only different levels of interests, but also different reasons for their interest in the High North. Further, the countries concerned are unlikely to enter into a geopolitical ‘race’ for the region’s resources. While Russia has the biggest Arctic resource base, the US and Canada are not dependent on these resources and their exploitation given the two countries’ own vast resource bases. And given that the high importance of Arctic oil and gas in Norway and Greenland is primarily focused on the exploitation of the national resource base, also these two countries are not expected to join any confrontational ‘cold rush’ about Russia’s resources. If any conflict about Arctic natural resources were to arise, it will most likely concern complicated business relationships between the Russian state and foreign oil and gas companies wanting to get a share of Russia’s vast hydrocarbon base to satisfy especially high European demand. Much will thus depend on how Russia will handle the delicate balancing act of needing foreign involvement to expand its oil and gas production and wanting to keep the production of these resources as strategic and thus as far away as possible from foreign hands. posted by Andreas Raspotnik 3.33pm
Marine Transport Infrastructure Challenges in the Arctic
On the 4th day of the Arctic Frontiers Conference 2012 the Oslo School of Architecture and Design organized the side event “Territorial Practises”. In his presentation Bjørn Gunnarsson, Managing Director of the Center for High North Logistics (CHNL) outlined the possibilities and challenges the Northern Sea Route (NSR) offers as an supplementary maritime route to the traditional Suez-Route. Additionally to the striking advantages with regard to time, fuel, cost and environmental savings, Gunnarsson was well aware of the occurring uncertainties. How safe and reliable is a possible transit? Russia, as the concerned littoral state, regulates shipping (e.g. transit fee, technical requirements) based on several national and international laws, regulations and guidelines: the Russian “Regulation for Navigating on the Seaway of the NSR, 1990”; UNCLOS, Article 234; the “Guide for Navigation through the NSR, 1996 (NSR Guidelines)”. In addition to several other issues that need to be solved (→ security issues; the high cost of insurance; the legal an