Category Archives: Volume 16, no. 2 (2021)

Special Guest Foreword: Our Home the Arctic

01/07/2021Introductory noteArctic Council, IR theory, challenges, complexities, international relations, theoreticalFriðrik Jónsson

In this special issue on International Relations Theory, the Arctic is examined through the tenets of IR Theory with a firm grasp of the region’s complexities, diversity and fairly clear-cut position in international legal hierarchies. In this collection of essays and articles you will find interesting, illuminating and challenging observations and insights that for anyone intrigued by the Arctic from any angle, be it environmental, societal, economic or geopolitical, a resource and inspiration for further deliberation. For any scholar of International Relations Theory, the compilation provides a vibrant insight into our region from a theoretical perspective not often seen – a foundation from which to study and reflect on the dynamics we see. To Dr. Zellen and his students and colleagues who have accomplished this excellent work and provided their keen insights I offer my congratulations and sincere appreciation for being allowed to bask a bit in the glory of their collective achievements.

Welcome to Our Special Issue on IR Theory, the Arctic System, and the Individual Theorist in Perspective

01/07/2021Introductory noteBarry Zellen

Welcome to our special issue of Nordicum-Mediterraneum: The Icelandic E-Journal of Nordic and Mediterranean Studies (NoMe) on the theme of “IR Theory, the Arctic System, and the Individual Theorist in Perspective.” It includes papers submitted to and/or inspired by our Spring 2020 class on Arctic security through the lens of IR theory that I taught at the University of Akureyri while a visiting Fulbright Scholar at the Polar Law Centre. In addition, and with our great appreciation, Friðrik Jónsson, who until recently served as Senior Arctic Official at Iceland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has generously contributed a special guest foreword to this special issue, providing context for these papers and for our discussion of IR theory as it applies to the contemporary Arctic.

The Pandemic, the Arctic and Me: A Levels of Analysis Discussion of Arctic Security Focusing on the 2020 Global Pandemic

01/07/2021New double-blind peer-reviewed articleArctic, COVID-19, cyber-education, domestic responses, health, pandemic, resilienceSoazic Dacal

The Covid-19 pandemic hit the world during the winter 2020. Still on-going, it impacts everyone’s everyday life on a great scale. While the pandemic is considered as a global challenge, it has particular effects in the Arctic due to local parameters, such as remoteness, need of communication, other health challenges, presence of indigenous communities, etc. Using the author’s personal experience as a starting point, this paper aims to provide a broad and objective analysis in order to identify and discuss major stakes of the pandemic as well as the opportunities it provides.

Schrödinger’s American: A Self-Reflection of One Person’s Role in Iceland’s Nordic and Arctic Discourse

01/07/2021New double-blind peer-reviewed articleArctic, IR, belonging, dissociation, personal place, storytellingJonathan Wood

Introspection and personal story-telling has often been used outside of academia in order to foster dialogue between cultures and peoples. However, this device is rarely used within academia in order to foster debate about cultures, regions, and locales. Through my own personal story, the article brings up questions of belonging within a region that has increasingly come under the microscope. The Arctic has many such stakeholders whose status remains unsolidified or questioned. While my story does not have such questions of legal status, it reflects the insecurity that many feel within a region that has only recently become the focus of colonial hegemony and internationally organized governance. While my positions myself within the region, it is the goal that this paper may inspire others to do the same in order to find common ground upon which we can help connect one another in a region so physically dispersed yet culturally connected.

Understanding the Role of Arctic States, Non-Arctic States and Indigenous Peoples in Arctic Affairs Through the Lens of International Relations Theories

01/07/2021New double-blind peer-reviewed articleArctic, Asian States., English School, Liberalism, Realism, geopolitics, indigenous peoples, security, sovereignty.Thomas Viguier

The Arctic is slowly opening to the world due to the ice retreat. The regional concept of unreachable lands, seas and ice is disappearing, leading the Arctic States to assert sovereignty over their respective Arctic territory in order to secure Arctic resources. However, Indigenous Peoples are concerned by these large-scale changes as their traditional land is changing, threatening their culture and existence. Finally, some non-Arctic States actively draft policies to express their intentions regarding the Arctic and its economic and strategic possibilities. In that sense, all stakeholders are adapting their conception of international relations to fit the new Arctic reality.

Climate Change, the Arctic and I

01/07/2021New double-blind peer-reviewed articleclimate change ; political theory ; constructivism ; ArcticMartin Binachon

This article uses the constructivist political theory to explain individual, state and non-state actors’ relationships with a warming Arctic. At the individual level, constructivism explains why the author studies the Arctic, even though there is no apparent, rational interest to do so. At the State level, constructivism can explain the different behaviours adopted by the States towards the fast-warming Arctic, which constantly adapt to specific social context and norms. Finally, constructivism thus highlights that non-State actors play a substantial role in international relations, because they influence social norms and meanings.

The Greenlandic Question: An International Relations Analysis of a Post-Independence Inuit Nation

30/06/2021New double-blind peer-reviewed articleGreenland, IR, Institutionalism, Realism, future predictions, independenceJonathan Wood

Greenland is a sub-national jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Denmark, yet holds a special position within due to the Self-Rule Act of 2009. For decades, Greenlandic politicians have clamored for independence in various ways. This article explores through an International Relations Theory lens as to the schools and modes of IR that Greenland has used in the past in order to predict how an independent Greenland may act in the future. By exploring these theories, the paper shines light on which theories and strategies may be best for Greenlanders.

High Stakes in the High North: Alternative Models for Greenland’s Ongoing Constitutional and Political Transformation

29/06/2021New double-blind peer-reviewed articleGreenland, Inuit, Westphalian state, autonomy, colony, sovereignty.Barry Zellen

Given the widespread attention and curiosity that accompanied the critical response to former President Trump’s 2019 Greenland purchase initiative, even in the absence of forward movement on the plan, the White House’s renewed (and continuing under the new Biden administration) interest in the Arctic and its increasing commitment to engagement and forward presence in the High North Atlantic region, has nonetheless been positively reinforced in the many months since – and this surely has not escaped the attention of America’s principal rivals in Beijing and Moscow, nor of its friends in Greenland, Iceland and across the lightly-settled and strategically salient North Atlantic. As Greenland continues its transformation from colony to autonomy and beyond toward a more formally independent sovereign status, several models are examined in this thought essay that Greenland could potentially pursue as it evolves from its current constitutional and political form. Because of the dynamic uncertainties of the polar thaw, and the return of Westphalian state competition to the Arctic region in recent years, the potential independence of Greenland becomes instead a strategic wildcard needing to be closely studied and pro-actively engaged to ensure a future sovereign Greenland maintains the close, collaborative and friendly relationship with the United States and the West, optimally as part of NATO, that it currently pursues as a constituent component of Denmark.

Singapore and the Arctic: Is the Gibraltar of the East Going to Materialize its Geopolitical Ambitions?

28/06/2021New double-blind peer-reviewed articleArctic, Asia, Democratic Peace., Hybrid Regime, Maritime, Microstate, Northern Sea Route, diplomacy, geopolitics, shippingThomas Viguier

The Arctic is becoming the new place to be for states, companies and academics, as the ice retreat is uncovering new strategic and geopolitical stakes. Arctic sates have already updated their Arctic policies, including their geopolitical stakes and Asian states with an Observer status to the Arctic Council are following the trend, but few of them don’t have an Arctic policy yet, Singapore being one of them. Highly participative within the Arctic Council’s working groups and building a strong cooperation, Singapore still remains mysterious in its approach. Then, what are the Gibraltar of the East’s geopolitical ambitions in the Arctic?

Geopolitics, Indigenous Peoples, and the Polar Thaw: Sub- and Transnational Fault Lines of the Coming Arctic Cold War

27/06/2021New double-blind peer-reviewed articleArctic exceptionalism, Westphalian, collaborative sovereignty, containment, geopolitics, indigenous, island chains, transnationalBarry Zellen

This article examines the current geopolitical transformation of the Arctic region in response to the interplay of rising great power competition (GPC), the institutional empowerment of Arctic indigenous peoples in domestic and international governing bodies, and the continued polar thaw – issues traditionally discussed separately or in pairs, but not generally all together. It applies classical geopolitical theory to the warming Arctic, finding that the fundamental relationships of Heartland to Rimland, and the isolating buffer of what Mackinder called Lenaland, are in a state of flux, and the once-isolated island chains that dominate the physical geography of the circumpolar Arctic are gaining increasing salience to global security, and must not be overlooked. It examines the political geography of the Arctic and the fundamental importance of its indigenous human terrain, where a future Cold War will either be won or lost.