The war in Ukraine gives reason to fear the worst: Will the Arctic turn again into a region of confrontation, remain a region of cooperation or become a region “on hold”? Three scenarios for future collaboration in the Arctic and their implications for global cooperation on climate change (mehr …)
The Arctic, in media coverage, is depicted as a region prone to international conflicts, a “lawless frontier” where “a new Cold War brews” due to the region’s strategic relevance and its estimated resource riches. Recently, a supposed diplomatic spat between Denmark (which is present through Greenland) and the USA hit the news. Most often exaggerations and fears are particularly directed towards Russia’s and China’s involvement in Arctic affairs. Often, this media narrative creates a “polar orientalism”, following a term coined by Edward Said, which describes the distorting description of a region (in Said’s case: the Middle East) by using a lens that focusses on exotic elements rather than communalities. Researchers and policy-makers, on the other hand, often use the term “Global Arctic”, to emphasise the region’s global interconnectedness and emphasise the cooperation among the various stakeholders engaged in Arctic politics. (mehr …)