Arctic governance: Power in cross-​border cooperation

178 Pages·2017·32.65 MB·English

by  Elana Wilson Rowe

Arctic governance

Arctic governance

Power in cross- border
cooperation
Elana Wilson Rowe
Manchester University Press
Copyright © Elana Wilson Rowe 2018
The right of Elana Wilson Rowe to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This electronic version has been made freely available under a Creative Commons
(CC- BY- NC- ND) licence, which permits non-commercial use, distribution and
reproduction provided the author(s) and Manchester University Press are fully cited
and no modifications or adaptations are made. Details of the licence can be viewed at
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Published by Manchester University Press
Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 5261 2173 8 paperback
ISBN 978 1 5261 3164 5 open access
First published 2018
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs
for any external or third- party internet websites referred to in this book,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
Typeset by Out of House Publishing
Contents
List of figures vi
List of tables vii
Acknowledgements viii
List of abbreviations x
Introduction: a power perspective on Arctic governance 1
1 Arctic international relations: new stories on rafted ice 18
2 The power politics of representation 34
3 Power positions: theorising Arctic hierarchies 58
4 Establishing and navigating the rules of the road in Arctic
diplomacy 83
5 Non- state actors and the quest for authority in Arctic
governance 104
Conclusion 124
References 133
Index 155
v
Figures
1 North Slope (USA) villagers passing a Soviet icebreaker, flying
a Soviet flag in 1988 (Bill Roth/Alaska Dispatch News, 1988) 19
2 Big and Little Diomede Islands and the Alaskan and Chukotka
coasts (Visible Earth Project, 2017) 22
3 Hudson’s Bay Company Building in Apex, Iqaluit, Nunavut
(author’s photo, 2005) 25
4 Map of global migration routes of birds with nesting grounds
in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (US Fish and
Wildlife Service, 2013) 35
5 Map of North Circumpolar Region (Natural Resources
Canada, 2017). Adapted and highly simplified for reproduction
in this book 36
6 Map of a use-based demarcation of the Arctic from the Pan
Inuit Trails project (Aporta et al., 2014) 37
7 Graph of Arctic Council project leadership by country 65
vi
Tables
1 Comparison of bracketed text on point 7.2.10 from an
SAO meeting preceding a ministerial meeting to the
final version of the Arctic Marine Strategic Plan 16
2 High- level statements at the Iqaluit ministerial meeting 42
3 Stated key interests of Asian states 47
4 Countries chairing binding treaties produced in
connection to the Arctic Council 66
vii
Acknowledgements
This book would have been impossible to carry out without the
contributions of others.
I am grateful to all of the interviewees from many years from
Moscow; Murmansk; Ottawa; Washington, DC; Iqaluit; Copenhagen;
Oslo; Anchorage; and elsewhere. All of these interviewees are busy
practitioners, whose responsibilities and schedules are not necessarily
designed to accommodate discussing questions with a researcher. Yet
they found the time and energy to meet with me, and their insights have
been invaluable.
The enthusiasm of these practitioners is matched by a thriving world
of Arctic social- science scholars, who continuously produce so much
new, interesting research that I had to keep updating the references
of this book until the very last minute. Discussions with this commu-
nity of scholars, established and junior, at project workshops, at the
International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, Arctic Circle and
Arctic Frontiers have been inspiring and formative. My ‘long ago’ friends
and teachers from student days at the Scott Polar Research Institute con-
tinue to shape my thinking. My ‘part- time’ colleagues, Frode Mellemvik,
Anatoli Bourmistrov and Elena Dybtsyna, as well as students at the High
North Centre for Business at Nord University in Bodø, have increased
my understanding of Arctic politics.
I also appreciate the efforts of the anonymous reviewers who took
time to comment, and of Jessica Shadian, who looked closely at the
manuscript for me at an important juncture. Tony Mason, Robert Byron
and the team at Manchester University Press have been supportive of this
project all along.
I am a lucky person who gets to work with talented, encouraging
colleagues every day. I received helpful feedback from Ole Jacob Sending,
Helge Blakkisrud, Wrenn Yennie Lindgren, Pernille Rieker, Indra
Øverland, Francesca Jensenius, Bjørnar Sverdrup- Thygesen, Benjamin de
viii