Table Of ContentArctic Governance
in a Changing World
★ ★ ★
Mary H. Durfee
Professor Emerita, Michigan Technological University
Rachael Lorna Johnstone
Professor, University of Akureyri and Ilisimatusarfik (University of Greenland)
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
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Assistant Editor: Mary Malley
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Durfee, Mary, author. | Johnstone, Rachael Lorna, author.
Title: Arctic governance in a changing world / Mary H. Durfee and Rachael Lorna Johnstone.
Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2019] | Series: New millennium books in
international studies | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018040483 (print) | LCCN 2018055543 (ebook) | ISBN 9781442235649
(ebook) | ISBN 9781442235625 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781442235632 (pbk. : alk.
paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Arctic regions—Politics and government. | Arctic regions—Foreign relations.
| Arctic regions—Economic conditions.
Classification: LCC G615 (ebook) | LCC G615 .D87 2019 (print) | DDC 327.0911/3—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018040483
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
To Don: who hopes for a better future
To K and Lo: whose future it is
Contents
★ ★ ★
Acknowledgments viii
1 What the Arctic Tells Us about World Affairs 1
Cooperation under Uncertainty 2
The Arctic and Its Indigenous Peoples in World Affairs 9
The Arctic Region and Policy Tools Used to Manage It 11
What the Arctic Tells Us about International Relations Theory 14
Organization of the Book 20
2 A Natural and Human History of the Arctic 23
The Natural History of the Arctic 23
Settlement of the Arctic 33
The Rise of the Sovereign European Arctic States and
Colonization of the Arctic 38
International Cooperation 47
Conclusions 49
3 Arctic Players 51
The Indigenous in the Arctic 52
Arctic States 52
Non-Arctic States 68
International Organizations and Forums 69
Nongovernmental Organizations 82
Corporate Interests 83
Other Stakeholders 84
Conclusions 84
4 Securities in the Arctic 87
Security or Securities? 87
v
vi Contents
★
Making Humans Secure 91
National Security 94
Conclusions 107
5 Arctic Economies and Resources 110
Pillars of Arctic Economies 111
The Three Ds 114
Arctic Resources 116
Arctic Economies 120
Competition between Different Sectors 122
Social Impacts of Large-Scale Resource Extraction 123
Interest Groups and Influences Inside and Outside the Arctic 126
The Impacts of Climate Change on Arctic Resources 126
Conclusions 131
6 The Political Economy of the Arctic 133
Economic Globalization and Modern Capitalisms 135
Finance and Banking 140
Free Trade 142
Recent Neoliberal Trade Negotiations 148
Conclusions 151
7 Human Rights and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
in the Arctic 153
Human Rights or Indigenous Rights? 154
How Do Human Rights Impact Decision Making? 160
United Nations Instruments and Mechanisms 161
The Council of Europe 165
The Inter-American System of Human Rights Protection 165
Responsibility for Human Rights and the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples 166
Human Rights and Indigenous Issues in the Arctic 168
Conclusions 177
8 Law of the Sea in the Arctic 180
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 180
Maritime Zones 182
Delimitation between Adjacent or Opposite States 192
States’ or Peoples’ Rights over the Seas 195
The Internationalization of the Arctic Ocean and Seas 195
Conclusions 197
Contents vii
★
9 Arctic Shipping and Navigation 200
Freedom of Navigation 201
Arctic Shipping Today 202
Sea Ice and Other Challenges to Arctic Shipping 206
Global Interest in Arctic Transit Shipping 208
Constraints to Freedom of Navigation 209
Arctic Controversies: Straight Baselines and the Question
of “International Straits” 210
Environmental and Human Security: Vessel-Source
Pollution and Safety at Sea 218
Conclusions 225
10 Environmental Protection in the Arctic 228
Principles of International Environmental Law 229
Arctic Environmental Challenges 237
Human Rights and the Environment 243
Implementation and Enforcement of International
Environmental Law 247
Conclusions 248
11 The Future of Arctic Governance 249
Material and Ideational Connections 251
Arctic Puzzles for International Relations Theorists 251
Questions for Further Reflection 256
Notes 258
Index 317
About the Authors 333
Acknowledgments
★ ★ ★
WHEN WE FIRST agreed to write this book, neither of us appreci-
ated quite what we were taking on. Putting on paper all the things we
thought we knew about the Arctic and that we talked about, taught
about, and forgot about on a daily basis did not seem such a diffi-
cult task. How wrong we were. The more we studied the Arctic, the
more we realized what we did not know. The more we tried to write
concisely and precisely, the more caveats we had to offer and the lon-
ger the parentheses became. Further, as time marched on, the Arctic—
and the world—underwent major political shifts. The governments of
Canada and the United States changed significantly and brought new
approaches to climate change and indigenous rights. Russia annexed
Crimea, and Western countries responded with sanctions. The price of
oil collapsed. Canada took the European Union to the World Trade
Organization over a ban on seal products. Meanwhile, permafrost and
sea ice continued to melt, and hunger for industrialization continued
unabated. Our own lives changed, too: Mary retired and moved two
thousand miles, and Rachael took up a new position at Ilisimatusarfik
(University of Greenland).
Cross-disciplinary research is always challenging. One realizes how
much one takes for granted. We each forced the other to reassess our
assumptions and to justify and explain the very foundations of our
approaches to Arctic cooperation and international cooperation more
broadly. While neither of us can perhaps be said to have undergone a
profound conversion during the research and writing process, we have
certainly become much more aware of the assumptions of our respec-
tive disciplines and recognize that what might seem obvious in one is
certainly not obvious in another. Both of us have had to learn new ways
viii
Acknowledgments ix
★
of approaching problems. Rachael has had to wrap her head around the
more abstract approaches of IR (international relations) theory—what
she still calls, but not disparagingly, “the woolly stuff.” She might also—
whisper it—have become a little less positivistic. Mary is now an expert
on the subtleties of legal terminology and will never (again) conflate
“sign,” “accede,” or “ratify.”
Neither of us anticipated that this book would take such a long time
to write. Neither of us expected leukemia and the consequent treatment
that would suck the energy from Mary and make every sentence a strug-
gle. The cancer is now blessedly in remission.
There are literally dozens of people to thank for their support in
bringing this book to fruition. First of all, Margaret Karns, professor
emerita, University of Dayton, is the one who proposed the book to
Mary and then got Rowman & Littlefield to keep pressing her. However,
Mary was not willing to work on this without a coauthor to cover the
more technical legal aspects. Mary firmly believed that a sound analy-
sis of Arctic governance had to integrate international law as well as
international relations. “Thanks” does not exactly cover our sentiments
toward Timo Koivurova for pointing Mary in Rachael’s direction! Timo
has long been an inspiration to us both, as well as a bottomless well of
knowledge that he shares graciously.
The staff at Rowman & Littlefield have never wavered in their con-
fidence, support, and patience. Traci Crowell and Mary Malley merit a
particular mention for gently pushing us with proposed deadlines and
always believing that we would deliver—eventually.
Along the way, we have had invaluable input from our wonder-
ful colleagues in the Arctic studies and Polar law communities. Ras-
mus Gjedssø Bertelsen, Romain Chuffart, Erik Franckx, Janice Glime,
Soffía Guðmundsdóttir, Hjalti Þór Hreinsson, Timo Koivurova, Suzanne
Lalonde, Marc Lanteigne, Bjarni Már Magnússon, Tony Penikett, Birger
Poppel, Lindsay Arthur Tamm, and a wonderful group of graduate
students at Ilisimatusarfik all commented on drafts of our work and
corrected our many errors. Errors remaining are entirely the authors’
responsibility. Lindsay Arthur Tamm, Rachael’s outstanding research
assistant and MA in Polar law candidate, provided some very useful
research on Alaska. Irina Zhilina, MA in Polar law, advised on Russian
sources. Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen went well beyond the call of duty and
straightened out a number of misunderstandings on Nordic history. We
would also like to thank the four anonymous reviewers at Rowman &
Littlefield for some very useful critiques of the first draft that encouraged
us to revise a number of areas and clarify others.
