Iceland: A Small Arctic State Facing Big Arctic Changes

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margrét Cela
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Member States ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Priority Area ◽  
Arctic State ◽  
A Priority ◽  
Policy Fields

Abstract Iceland is one of eight member states of the Arctic Council and claims to be the only sovereign state that is entirely located in the Arctic. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that the region has gained a priority status in Iceland’s foreign policy. The developments in the Arctic will inevitably affect the country in one way or the other. This paper is divided into three sections; the first one discusses recent internal and external developments. The second section is about three different aspects of security, traditional, human and environmental, and furthermore, discusses those types of security in Icelandic context. The last section is on Iceland’s priorities in the Arctic, which are then measured against Lassi Heininen’s policy fields or indicators, and Arctic solutions presented by Alyson Bailes. Main conclusions are that even though Iceland has been going through challenging times in the resent years, the Arctic still remains somewhat a priority area, policy wise, and the Icelandic priorities, for the most part, fit within the frameworks of Arctic solutions and the policy fields they are measured against.

Greenland’s Arctic advantage: Articulations, acts and appearances of sovereignty games

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-192
Author(s):  
Marc Jacobsen
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Arctic State ◽  
The Status ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
High Level ◽  
International Status

Greenland representatives successfully use the renewed international geostrategic interest in the Arctic to enhance Greenland’s foreign policy sovereignty. This is facilitated by Denmark’s dependence on Greenland’s geographic location and continuous membership of the Danish Realm for maintaining the status of an Arctic state, which recently has become one of the five most important security and foreign policy priorities. The dependency gives Greenland an ‘Arctic advantage’ in negotiations with Denmark, while turning circumpolar events into strategic arenas for sovereignty games in the aim to move the boundary of what Greenland may do internationally without Danish involvement. This article analyzes how these games unfold in the Arctic Council, at the high-level Ilulissat meetings and at circumpolar conferences where Greenland representatives articulate, act and appear more foreign policy sovereignty through outspoken discontent, tacit gestures and symbolic alterations. Altogether, this contributes to the expanding of Greenland’s foreign policy room for maneuver within the current legal frameworks, while enhancing Greenland’s international status and attracting external investments, important in their striving towards becoming a state with full formal Westphalian sovereignty.

scholarly journals Russian-Belarus cooperation in the Arctic at the current stage

2020 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 02001
Author(s):  
Daria Synchikova ◽  
Regina Elizaveta Kudriavtceva ◽  
Javed Zafar
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Technological Progress ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Member States ◽  
Priority Areas ◽  
Current Stage

Russia is one of the 8 member states of the Arctic Council, so the Arctic is one of the priority areas of Russia’s foreign policy. Another player in the Arctic territories in cooperation with Russia is Belarus, which can provide assistance in many areas related to technological progress. In this article, the author examines which areas of cooperation between Russia and Belarus are the most successful, and what platforms (The Union State of Russia and Belarus or the EAEU) and institutions exist for this purpose. In addition, it is important to consider the problems that arise in the process of cooperation, as well as the question of whether a confrontation is possible within the integration association. The author also notes further lines of cooperation and opportunities for both states in the Arctic.

6. Arctic governance

2021 ◽  
pp. 108-124
Author(s):  
Klaus Dodds ◽  
Jamie Woodward
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Military Conflict ◽  
Northern Latitudes ◽  
The World

‘Arctic governance’ discusses how the Arctic, unlike many other parts of the world, has been spared military conflict, civil wars, and terrorism. Arctic governance involves an array of actors, legal regimes, institutional and social contexts, and strategic aspirations. In 1989, Finland approached the other seven Arctic states with a proposal for the Rovaniemi Meeting, which discusses the protection of the Arctic environment. This provided the foundation for the intergovernmental forum the Arctic Council (1996). The eight Arctic states will remain significant players in the future governance of the northern latitudes alongside indigenous peoples/permanent participants. There will always be powerful drivers that ensure that the 'global Arctic' will be prominent in multiple ways, including the role that China, the European Union, and other external states will play in shaping its future.

The Arctic Council and the Search and Rescue Agreement: the case of Norway

Polar Record ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 284-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svein Vigeland Rottem
Keyword(s):  
Search And Rescue ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Member States ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Binding Agreement

ABSTRACTOn 12 May 2011 at the seventh ministerial meeting, the member states of the Arctic Council (AC) signed the Arctic SAR agreement, the first legally binding agreement negotiated under the auspices of the AC. Its objective is to strengthen search and rescue cooperation and coordination in the Arctic. The purpose of this article is to explore why an agreement on search and rescue under the auspices of the AC has been negotiated; what its key features are; and lastly, how it is and will be implemented. It is argued that the SAR agreement is more important for the AC than for Norway. It has had limited practical consequences in that country. The agreement may be politically and symbolically significant but it has neither financially nor organisationally changed Norwegian search and rescue policy.

scholarly journals Effects of black carbon mitigation on Arctic climate

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 5527-5546
Author(s):  
Thomas Kühn ◽  
Kaarle Kupiainen ◽  
Tuuli Miinalainen ◽  
Harri Kokkola ◽  
Ville-Veikko Paunu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emission Reduction ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Arctic Climate ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Emission Reductions ◽  
Member States ◽  
Premature Deaths ◽  
Direct Radiative Forcing ◽  
Effective Radiative Forcing

Abstract. We use the ECHAM-HAMMOZ aerosol-climate model to assess the effects of black carbon (BC) mitigation measures on Arctic climate. To this end we constructed several mitigation scenarios that implement all currently existing legislation and then implement further reductions of BC in a successively increasing global area, starting from the eight member states of the Arctic Council, expanding to its active observer states, then to all observer states, and finally to the entire globe. These scenarios also account for the reduction of the co-emitted organic carbon (OC) and sulfate (SU). We find that, even though the additional BC emission reductions in the member states of the Arctic Council are small, the resulting reductions in Arctic BC mass burdens can be substantial, especially in the lower troposphere close to the surface. This in turn means that reducing BC emissions only in the Arctic Council member states can reduce BC deposition in the Arctic by about 30 % compared to the current legislation, which is about 60 % of what could be achieved if emissions were reduced globally. Emission reductions further south affect Arctic BC concentrations at higher altitudes and thus only have small additional effects on BC deposition in the Arctic. The direct radiative forcing scales fairly well with the total amount of BC emission reduction, independent of the location of the emission source, with a maximum direct radiative forcing in the Arctic of about −0.4 W m−2 for a global BC emission reduction. On the other hand, the Arctic effective radiative forcing due to the BC emission reductions, which accounts for aerosol–cloud interactions, is small compared to the direct aerosol radiative forcing. This happens because BC- and OC-containing particles can act as cloud condensation nuclei, which affects cloud reflectivity and lifetime and counteracts the direct radiative forcing of BC. Additionally, the effective radiative forcing is accompanied by very large uncertainties that originate from the strong natural variability of meteorology, cloud cover, and surface albedo in the Arctic. We further used the TM5-FASST model to assess the benefits of the aerosol emission reductions for human health. We found that a full implementation in all Arctic Council member and observer states could reduce the annual global number of premature deaths by 329 000 by the year 2030, which amounts to 9 % of the total global premature deaths due to particulate matter.

scholarly journals ARCTIC SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DURING RUSSIAN CHAIRMANSHIP AT THE ARCTIC COUNCIL

2021 ◽  
Vol 228 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-235
Author(s):  
JULIA V. ZVORYKINA ◽  
◽  
KIRILL S. TETERYATNIKOV ◽  
DANEK А. PAVLOVSKY ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
International Law ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
World Economy ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Russian Federation

The article is meant to analyze new opportunities of the forthcoming presidency of the Russian Federation in the Arctic Council designed to implement the Arctic Development Strategy of the Russian Federation, strengthen international cooperation and give a new impetus to largescale national and international sustainable development projects in the Arctic, focused on improving the resilience of the environment and population of the Council member states. The authors considered the approaches to formulation of sustainable development priorities in international law and Russian legislation, peculiarities of sustainable development projects in the Arctic, prospective directions of Russian chairmanship in the Arctic Council taking into account postpandemic development of the world economy. Relevant proposals and recommendations on specific areas of cooperation and major projects that could be implemented in the interests of all member states of the Arctic Council are given. A proposal for Arctic Development Bank foundation has been put forward and substantiated.

Article 156 TFEU

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sacha Garben
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Member States ◽  
Policy Fields

Article 140 EC With a view to achieving the objectives of Article 151 and without prejudice to the other provisions of the Treaties, the Commission shall encourage cooperation between the Member States and facilitate the coordination of their action in all social policy fields under this Chapter, particularly in matters.

China's Foreign Policy in Sport: The Primacy of National Security and Territorial Integrity Concerning the Taiwan Question

2008 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 294-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junwei Yu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
National Security ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
The Other ◽  
Beijing Olympics ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Territorial Integrity ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
China’S Foreign Policy ◽  
The One

AbstractTraditionally, research that examines foreign policy in sport often revolves around the prestige, status, welfare and protection of ethnic or human kin. However, this article argues that from the outset, China's foreign policy on sport vis-à-vis Taiwan has placed national security and territorial integrity as its number one priority. Chinese leaders have developed a carrot-and-stick policy. On the one hand, an “Olympic formula” has been devised enabling Taiwan to participate in non-governmental international organizations such as the Olympics. On the other hand, a “one China principle” has been imposed, to treat Taiwan as a local province that ceases to be a sovereign state. The 2008 Beijing Olympics is a perfect arena for China to use the two doctrines interchangeably.

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