Due to climate change, the Arctic has gained significant attention from policy actors from beyond the circumpolar north. This increased interest has been reflected by a growing number of non-Arctic observer states at the Arctic Council.

The new book “Arctic Policies of Non-Arctic States” provides an important perspective on the growing global interest of the Arctic as a region.

While most chapters of the book delve into existing Arctic policies, some explore Arctic policies in the making. Each contribution provides a combination of historical accounts, explanations of selected non-Arctic States’ interests in the Arctic, as well as discussions regarding their Arctic policies and role in Arctic law and governance.

The book is edited by Medy Dervovic, Laura Ulatowski and Stefan Kirchner and it includes chapters by many researchers associated with the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland.

The book covers (in alphabetical order):

• Belgium (Romain Chuffart & Karen van Loon)
• China (Marco Volpe)
• Greece (Apostolos Tsiouvalas & Konstantinos Deligiannis-Virvos)
• Japan (Juha Saunavaara, Marina Lomaeva, Hiroki Takakura & Fujio Ohnishi)
• Latvia (Gints Jegermanis & Pavel Tkach)
• The Netherlands (Eline Lüschen)
• Spain (Ana Belén López Tárraga)
• and one general perspective on Asian States (Julie Auffret-Cariou & Rashmi Ramesh).

The foreword of the book was written by Akiho Shibata, professor of international law and Director, Polar Cooperation Research Centre (PCRC), Kobe University, Japan.

The book is now available as an e-book and in print: Arctic Policies of Non-Arctic States | Brill

More information:

Medy Dervovic, Visiting Researcher
Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
medy.dervovic@ulapland.fi