Arctic Narratives and Political Values: Arctic States, China and NATO
Arctic Narratives and Political Values: Arctic States, China and NATO

Author(s): Iona Allan, Elizabete Auniņa
Contributor(s): Troy Bouffard (Editor)
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Environmental and Energy policy, International relations/trade, Geopolitics
Published by: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Keywords: Arctic region; political interest; environmental changes; natural gas supply; economic potential; oil and gas extraction;
Summary/Abstract: Over the last five years, mainstream political interest and global media attention towards the Arctic region has grown rapidly, from alarmist headlines declaring a ‘global battle for the Arctic’ and the beginning of a new ‘Cold War’ to more bleak warnings about the irreversible environmental changes taking place above the Arctic Circle. From an economic and resource perspective, the Arctic has also taken on a truly global significance in recent years. With almost 30% of the world’s undiscovered remaining natural gas supply and 13% of undiscovered oil located under the Northern Polar ice, many countries, both within and outside the region, are now looking towards the Arctic as a region of great untapped economic potential. After the record-breaking summer ice melts of 2007 and 2012, previously impassable stretches of Arctic waters became ice-free and navigable for the first time, allowing oil companies to send drilling ships northward and begin the first phases of oil and gas extraction.

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