Contesting the Arctic ― Politics and Imaginaries in the Circumpolar North

As climate change makes the Arctic a region of key political interest, so questions of sovereignty are once more drawing international attention. The promise of new sources of mineral wealth and energy, and of new transportation routes, has seen countries expand their sovereignty claims. Increasingly, interested parties from both within and beyond the region, including states, indigenous groups, corporate organizations, and NGOs and are pursuing their visions for the Arctic.

What form of political organization should prevail? Contesting the Arctic provides a map of potential governance options for the Arctic and addresses and evaluates the ways in which Arctic stakeholders throughout the region are seeking to pursue them.

Philip E. Steinberg is Professor of Political Geography at the University of Durham. He was formerly Professor of Geography at Florida State University and Marie Curie Fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London. Adam Keul is Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of Connecticut. He specialises in resource geography.Jeremy Tasch is Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Planning, Towson University, Baltimore, USA. His research interests include resource development in Central Asia and the Russian Far East, Arctic sovereignty claims in the context of climate change, and the social theory of global environmental issues. Elizabeth Nyman is Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She specialises in international relations. Hannes Gerhardt is Assistant Professor, Department of Geosciences, University of West Georgia. His research interests include issues of sovereignty, territorialization, global governmentality, and the cultural dimensions of critical geopolitics.