United States Arctic Policy: The Reluctant Arctic Power

Although the United States is an Arctic nation, the Arctic has seldom figured prominently in US policy. In January 2009 the US released its new Arctic policy. Arctic Region Policy signals that the US is beginning to understand that the Arctic is changing in a manner that concerns its vital national interests. The core Arctic issues facing the US are resource development and international circumpolar relations. The development of oil and gas reserves in Alaska is discussed in the context of sustainable development and US domestic energy security, which are often at odds with each other.  In regards to circumpolar relation, the US has traditionally been a reluctant Arctic power. It has been unwilling to take the initiative in the area of international Arctic policy. Now, the United States also must act to improve its participation in the main Arctic institutions in order to strengthen cooperation among the Arctic nations. But at the same time, the US must now face a geo-political environment that is becoming more complicated and possibly dangerous than was the case in the last decade. Thus their new policy also emphasizes the priority the US places on security by maintaining a strong military presence in the Arctic. All of these actions are already having an impact on their Arctic neighbors including Canada. This will continue to be the case as American activity increase in the region. Now that the Arctic is transforming due to climate change, resource development, globalization, and geopolitical factors,the United States can no longer ignore the Arctic

Canadian Sovereignty Linked to Energy Development in the Arctic

INDUSTRY IS ABOUT TO EMBARK SERIOUSLY on explorationand probable development of Canada’s Arctic energyresources. The price of natural gas has recovered from its recent lows and is now on the upswing, with no end in sight. With conventional natural gas production already in decline in the mature Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, no one can predict when and where the price of gas will stabilize. Oil has long passed the $100 psychological barrier and currently sells at nearly$140 a barrel, getting ever closer, in absolute dollars, to levels not reached since the oil shocks of the 1970s. The world’s largest oilfields are in decline, starting with Saudi Arabia’s mammoth Ghawar field, one of many giant oil pools from Mexico, Russia, and the Middle East discovered during the heyday of hydrocarbon exploration in the 1960s and 1970s. Con-ventional supplies are declining as China and India grow at breakneck pace, and our American neighbour shows n

Climate Change & International Security: The Arctic as a Bellwether

Examines how the trend toward seasonally open Arctic waters as a result of global climate change affects geopolitics. Analyzes 2008-12 policy statements and actions by Arctic states, other states with Arctic interests, and multilateral organizations

Chapitre 1. Un monde circumpolaire en pleine mutation

La question de la souveraineté et de la sécurité du Canada dans l’Arctique, une région du monde qui connaît des changements fondamentaux, est au cœur de ce chapitre. Il examine tout d’abord les concepts de souveraineté et de sécurité, puis analyse les facteurs qui transforment le tissu du milieu arctique, notamment les changements climatiques, le développement des ressources et les forces géopolitiques en présence. La rapidité avec laquelle se transforme l’Arctique a surpris les Canadiens et ..

Climate Change and Canadian Sovereignty in the Northwest Passage

Climate change is transforming the Arctic. Questions abound about what this will mean for the Canadian Forces, for Canada’s sover­eignty position, for northern peoples, and for stability and security in the circumpolar world. Fortunately, Canadians have encountered and debated similar issues in the past. This volume, featuring chapters by established and emerging scholars, offers essential historical analysis on Canadian Arctic security and sovereignty policies and practices since the Second World War. The “lessons learned” lay a solid foundation for future research and historiographical debate in this dynamic field, and should inform Canadian thinking on what is necessary to protect national interests in the twenty-first-century Arctic