Arctic and Nordic Dimension

The Arctic is a global bellwether for climate change and indigenous peoples' rights and traditions, as well as a "health check" on the durability of international laws and norms. Red Artic challenges the widely held assumption that the Arctic is headed for strategic meltdown, emerging as a theater for a literal (new) Cold War between Russia and the West. Buchanan explains that Putin's Arctic strategy relies heavily upon international cooperation with foreign energy firms and injections of foreign capital: conflict will be bad for business. Russia needs a "low tension" environment to deliver on Russia's critical economic interests. Red Arctic charts Arctic strategy under Putin from how it is formulated, what drives it, and where it's going. In cautioning against assumptions of expansionist intent in the region, Buchanan calls for informed judgment of the real drivers of Russian Arctic strategy.

An international conference, hosting distinguished experts in different fields, was held at the University of Padova in 2019. Some of the articles in this book do reproduce the contents of the presentations brought at the time – duly updated – but further contributions have been added, containing new developments of the on-going research project.
Like the conference the book is meant to be multidisciplinary, trying to provide a larger perception of the complexity of the issues involved. The first part contains political and economic studies, while the second one deals with international law aspects.

Seit die Polkappen schmelzen und der Nordpol für den Schiffsverkehr sowie die Energiegewinnung zugänglicher wird, treffen die internationalen Interessen in der Arktis gnadenlos aufeinander. Dieses Buch konzentriert sich auf die Großmachtkonkurrenz von USA, China und Russland, die aufgrund der sino-amerikanischen Machtrivalität auch für diesen Raum strukturbildend ist. Das »ewige Eis« schmilzt, und sollte es jemals einen »arktischen Exzeptionalismus« gegeben haben, so ist seine Zeit definitiv zu Ende. Die Arktis ist keine einsam entrückte Region fernab aller Konflikte mehr, sondern zunehmend selbst der Ort widerstreitender Interessen.

Avec le réchauffement climatique trois fois plus important aux pôles que sur le reste de la planète, les eaux polaires arctiques sont de plus en plus accessibles au trafic maritime et aux ressources d'hydrocarbures jugées considérables, et ce sur de plus en plus longues périodes estivales. La construction de brise-glaces russes, les projets gigantesques d'extraction d'hydrocarbures n'ont jamais été aussi importants que dans cette décennie. Les routes maritimes arctiques plus courtes sont-elles appelées à concurrencer celles classiques par les canaux de Panama et de Suez ? L'augmentation du trafic maritime est-elle source de tension dans cette zone de plus en plus soumise à son exploitation ? Cet ouvrage permet de mieux comprendre les enjeux maritimes, environnementaux, économiques et géopolitiques liés à l'exploitation de cet espace arctique en décrivant les principes qui les régissent.

'Andreas Raspotnik's book is a well-written history of the European Union's struggle for recognition in the Arctic; a struggle underpinned by attempts to define what the Circumpolar North means for the EU. Raspotnik adopts the lens of critical geopolitics, which proves very productive in terms of capturing the character of the EU-Arctic nexus. The Union is revealed as a reluctant geopolitical actor, as inherent EU drive to be present in a neighboring region interplays with the lack of genuine interest.' - Timo Koivurova, University of Lapland, Finland 'In spite of an interpretation that the European Union is 'no geopolitical actor' from the critical approach, the Union clearly impacts (Arctic) geopolitics in the fields of climate and environmental policies, fisheries and science, and benefits from the high geopolitical stability of the Arctic. This book is an informative study and in-depth analysis on European geopolitical agency in a distinct spatiotemporal context, the early-21st century's Arctic, and the EU's process to (re)construct European legitimacy there. Next step is to analyze, if the EU tries to influence the discourse on how to use (govern) the land and waters, as well as resources, of the Arctic.' - Lassi Heininen, University of Lapland, Finland The Arctic is a region that has seen exponential growth as a space of geopolitical interest over the past decade. This insightful book is the first to analyse the European Union?s Arctic policy endeavours of the early 21st Century from a critical geopolitical perspective. Exploring the EU?s decade-long undertaking to construct legitimacy in the Arctic between 2008 and 2017, Andreas Raspotnik investigates whether the EU can figure prominently in the Artic region as an international actor. This book presents the EU?s interest in the Arctic as a fascinating test case for how the EU aims to assert its policies and values in a neighbouring region. By providing an in-depth analysis of the EU?s process to establish legitimacy and credibility in the Arctic, Andreas Raspotnik sheds light on the debate regarding whether or not the EU can be perceived as a geopolitical actor. This contemporary and intriguing book will appeal to scholars and students of international relations, European studies, geography, and Arctic studies, as well as those on courses relating to international organizations and global/regional politics. It will also be of interest to the broader public with an interest in the challenges and opportunities of the Arctic region.