The strategic importance of the Arctic has increased dramatically already for some time due to climate change. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine is also impacting regional geopolitics, stability, economic policies and cooperation in the Arctic. Two recently published articles review the contemporary security dynamics of the region and the future of the Arctic cooperation.
In the policy paper published by Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Senior Researcher Sanna Kopra, the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland and Colin Wall, Associate Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) review the contemporary security dynamics in the Arctic, with particular attention to climate change and the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
According to the authors the Arctic is currently witnessing intensifying great power rivalry and they also foresee long-lasting impacts on the security landscape of the Arctic as a result of the war in Ukraine.
In another article written by Sanna Kopra and Liisa Kauppila, Senior Researcher at the University of Turku, the authors use the futures research technique of backcasting to construct three scenarios on the continuation of the Arctic cooperation. The article produces a set of alternative futures that all picture an Arctic of 2035 where at least the eight Arctic states collaborate regularly, and in which climate change mitigation and adaptation constitutes a key driver of collaboration. This article was published in the Arctic Yearbook 2022.
Both articles are open access for and free of charge for all readers.
POLICY PAPER: A new climate: The impact of Russia’s war on a melting Arctic
Dr. Sanna Kopra and Colin Wall
The War in Ukraine as a Critical Juncture: China, Russia, and Arctic Collaboration up to 2035. Arctic Yearbook 2022. Liisa Kauppila & Sanna Kopra
More information:
Senior researcher Sanna Kopra, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
sanna.kopra(at)ulapland.fi; +358 40 132 4502