It is a fact that the climate is changing globally. As a remote, harsh part of the world, climate of the Arctic is changing as well. The Arctic ice is melting at an astonishing rate. Thus, the region is getting more accessible. Even the Arctic sea routes are ice-free nearly for five months a year right now, this period will probably last longer in the coming years. Moreover, hydrocarbon explorations in the region will increase the expectations regarding an ice-free Arctic since the economic potential of the region is rising to the surface. Under these circumstances, the Arctic has recently been witnessing both challenges and opportunities. The latter includes the exploitation of hydrocarbons and utilization accessible maritime routes - both of which are opportunities gathering less attention- whereas conflicting issues regarding sovereignty and national security are regularly thematized by politicians and media. Here, the point is that, whereas challenges are being underlined, the opportunities are being ignored. Put differently, while politicians and the media address issues pertaining to the regional policies - especially conflicting ones and ecology of the region- on the other hand economic potential of the region triggered by the ice-melting is paid no mind. With this in mind, as one of the most significant institutions in the region, the Arctic Council aims to manage the issues in question. Thus, this book aims to provide enlightenment on the Arctic states’ predominant intent to utilize opportunities under the auspices of the Arctic Council via neoliberal policies. The book indicates that the Arctic Council -as an example of regime formation- could be best understood via neoliberal perspective of regime theory since its members plan to further economic development of the region as a common priority.

The Arctic Council, created in 1996, has facilitated over twenty years of successful democracy and regional cooperation between Russia and the seven other Arctic states – the United States, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and Finland. What has allowed this unity to continue despite political turmoil between these nations? In Diplomacy and the Arctic Council Danita Burke argues that the Arctic Council is a club: a group of states that mutually benefit from voluntary collaboration and that use the forum as a vessel to help define and guide the parameters of their cooperation. How the club members identify and address challenges reflects power relations among them, which vary depending on the topic under discussion or debate. Providing insight into the daily practices of the Arctic Council and the relative status of its member states, Burke seeks to understand why major international events, such as the 2014 Russian-Ukrainian conflict over the Crimea region, do not deter the Arctic countries from cooperating. The author posits that the Arctic Council's club structure and its strategy of practising and projecting unity have allowed it to weather the storm of international conflicts involving its core membership. Through interviews with representatives from the Arctic states and Indigenous peoples, Diplomacy and the Arctic Council offers a unique look into the diplomatic practices of the council after more than two decades of operation.

The Routledge Handbook of Arctic Security offers a comprehensive examination of security in the region, encompassing both state-based and militarized notions of security, as well as broader security perspectives reflecting debates about changes in climate, environment, economies, and societies. Since the turn of the century, the Arctic has increasingly been in the global spotlight, resulting in the often invoked idea of “Arctic exceptionalism” being questioned. At the same time, the unconventional political power which the Arctic’s Indigenous peoples hold calls into question conventional ideas about geopolitics and security. This handbook examines security in this region, revealing contestations and complementarities between narrower, state-based and/or militarized notions of security and broader security perspectives reflecting concerns and debates about changes in climate, environment, economies, and societies. The volume is split into five thematic parts: • Theorizing Arctic Security • The Arctic Powers • Security in the Arctic through Governance • Non-Arctic States, Regional and International Organizations • People, States, and Security. This book will be of great interest to students of Arctic politics, global governance, geography, security studies, and International Relations.

For many years, concerns have been expressed about environmental issues in the Arctic. While the Arctic region, unlike Antarctica, has been inhabited for thousands of years, it is under unique threat because of its vulnerability toward resource exploitation and the deposition of various airborne pollutants. With its varied populations, and with eight Nations asserting territorial interests, the Arctic needs a careful approach to its protection and development. This report describes the current Arctic environmental legal regime. It also discusses the possibility of negotiating a sustainability treaty for the Arctic with high standards of environmental protection similar to those in the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. It is hoped that this review of the legal and policy contrasts between the Arctic and Antarctic can help in the consideration of future directions for the Arctic legal regime.

A review of international law in the polar regions and its importance to the environment and to international relations.

In social science terms, the `Arctic' is a relative, not an absolute concept, relating to several dimensions, such as constitutional and geographic status, remoteness, socioeconomic status, and demographic/anthropological factors. There is only one sovereign state with all its territory situated in the Arctic (Iceland), but many other areas of the globe have shared characteristics (Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories, areas of Norway, Sweden and Finland north of the Polar Circle, Greenland, the Faroes). Remoteness has to do with distance from the centre as well as accessibility, transportation and communication. Socioeconomically, the Arctic is characterised by a low population density, a fragile natural environment, and overwhelming economic dependence on one or a few resources, often coupled with income transfer. Demographically, the region has a large number of indigenous peoples, heavy immigration from the South (albeit only seasonal), minority problems, immigrant majorities, high infant mortality, low expected lifespan. The present book is the first to present a large number of articles on the contemporary social, economic and political development in the Arctic, written by social scientists from Russia and the western world, many of whom live and conduct their research in the region. The book thus presents a much more complete picture of the modern world of the Arctic, offering a unique opportunity to compare what is happening in the different parts of the region.