Books
Performing Arctic Sovereignty: Policy & Visual Representations
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The Arctic is 5.5 million square miles and has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years, yet it is still a frontier of development. But who owns the Arctic?
This book charts the history of performances of sovereignty over the Arctic in the policy and visual representations of the US, Canada and Russia. Focusing on narratives of the effective occupation of territory found in postage stamps, it offers a novel analysis of Arctic sovereignty. Issues such as climate change, plastics pollution and resource development continue to impact the future of this space centred around the North Pole. Who is responsible for the region? This book examines how countries have absorbed Arctic territory into their national consciousness, examining the choice of, and use of, symbols and images in postage stamps. It looks at the story of how these countries have represented their Arctic frontiers and territorial peripheries. The book argues that the performance of policy in these regions has caused relative sovereignty to become a reality. It provides an intriguing account of how these countries have, in their distinctive ways, established, legitimised and reinforced their political authority in these regions. |
Selected publications
Science diplomacy in the Arctic
Contributions of the USGS to policy discourse and impact on governance
Contributions of the USGS to policy discourse and impact on governance
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Science diplomacy has been instrumental in facilitating cooperation in the Arctic region, yet through the projection of vast hydrocarbon potential in the region, it has also served to undermine the major transformation necessary in Arctic decision-making towards the goals of climate governance. This article surveys the translation of science from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports (i.e. the CARA study and Factsheet 2008-3049) on Arctic oil and gas and its transformation into common knowledge within Arctic discourse through repetition by the agents in between and its subsequent adoption into Arctic policy documents. In this process, we interrogate the production of the science underpinning US science diplomacy and the influence of this science on international Arctic discourse and policy use science diplomacy. This paper contributes to the literature of science diplomacy in the Arctic by examining the contributions of the USGS to Arctic policy discourses and its impact on Arctic governance at the nexus of science diplomacy on climate and energy.
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Iceberg Sovereignty
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Icebergs have a long history of commercial exploitation and while climate change has accelerated interest in Arctic resources, this enigmatic symbol of the region has received little attention in contemporary legal debates. In an age of growing freshwater scarcity, iceberg harvesting is currently unregulated and without legal status under international law beyond the rule of capture. Positioned at the intersection of water security and economic gain, icebergs are primed as a site for resource conflict. Framing the legal status of ice within historical debates, this paper considers principles of international law that could apply in determining rights derived from sovereignty over this resource. It posits a regulatory pathway via the Arctic Council, although the resource may in time simply disappear from both the legal and physical landscape.
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UK Strategy for the High North
In recent years, the Arctic and wider High North have re-emerged as an area of concern for policymakers, reflecting changes in climate and geopolitics. Rapid ice-melting and associated changes — such as rising sea levels resulting from higher temperatures — are opening new maritime routes and access to natural resources. Ongoing climate and environmental changes are rightly provoking global concern, but also bring renewed political, security, military and economic interest in the Arctic.
Though the UK is not an Arctic state, its strategic position neighbouring the region, its reliance on sea lines of communication, its role in NATO and its leadership on climate-change issues all entail a need for close engagement with developments in the High North. The Integrated Review released in March 2021 emphasised the UK's strategic interests in the Arctic and broader High North region. The Defence Command Paper that accompanied the Integrated Review similarly emphasised the importance of the High North in maintaining security in defence of the North Atlantic and called for enhanced capabilities and use of multilateral partnerships to better secure the region. To be successful, the UK's approach must be underpinned by a clear understanding of the different diplomatic, information, military and economic levers through which the government can exert influence, either unilaterally or through cooperation with others. This project identified areas for further action or investigation, including a need to better understand how different parts of government could work together on High North issues and how the UK could maximise its influence over developments in the High North through international fora. |
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Messages on Arctic Policy:
Effective Occupation in the Postage Stamps of the United States, Canada & Russia The Arctic policies of the United States, Canada, and Russia have received considerable attention on the international stage in recent years, although engagement by these states with the region extends through many eras. Overlooked in analyses of Arctic policy and practice in the region are the messages communicated through postage stamps, noted in their importance as transmitters of government messages, as these states emphasize claims to sovereignty and the resources of the region.
These Arctic states issued a number of stamps depicting the Arctic throughout their engagement with the region, long before any formal policy documents addressed contemporary geostrategic concerns. This article surveys all Arctic postage stamps issued by these three states and analyzes their messages for correlation with official Arctic policy in several periods, concluding that there is substantial relationship between the issued stamps and the practice and policy of these Arctic states as they demonstrate their effective occupation of the region. |
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The Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement:
Text, Framing and Logic The 2011 ‘Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic’ (henceforth SAR Agreement) is the first instrument of hard law produced by the eight states of the Arctic Council. While the agreement ostensibly addresses search and rescue related issues for the Arctic region, it is capable of being understood in a variety of legal, political and cultural contexts. Three elements are teased out in particular – the SAR Agreement as a legal policy document, as indicative of evolving Arctic international relations, and as indicative of particular geopolitical logics. As the paper concludes, however, the SAR Agreement has not been entirely free of political intrigue.
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