On June 3, Canada’s Governor General, David Johnston, laid out the Conservatives’ plans for Canada in the Throne Speech to the Senate. As the Conservatives have finally secured a majority in Parliament, they will likely have more success in realizing their vision. In one paragraph, Johnston summarized his government’s plans for the North. “Our Government […]
Norway and Russia On July 7, the Treaty on Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean, which delimits the long-disputed boundary in the eastern Barents Sea between between Norway and Russia, will finally go into effect. Yesterday, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Russian Prime Minister Sergei Lavrov exchanged […]
A recent study published in the academic journal Nature Climate Change by UCLA geography doctoral student Scott Stephenson is the first to quantify the effect of climate change on transportation systems in the Arctic. We already know that melting ice is causing the oceans to open up and the ground to defrost, leading to greater […]
Beginning on Thursday, May 26, Canada’s Carleton University will host a conference on cooperation in the Arctic between three of the region’s five littoral states: Canada, Norway, and Russia. High-ranking officials from each country will be in attendance, including the Russian Ambassador to Canada, Georgiy Enverovich MAMEDOV, the Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Espen Barthe Eide, […]
On Tuesday, a document from the Danish government was leaked. Its title: “Strategy for the Arctic 2011-2020,” echoing the Russian strategy for the Arctic through 2020. In the document, which is to be officially released next month after Danish parliamentary deliberations, the government outlines its plans to claim the North Pole as an extension of […]
The 7th Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting took place yesterday and today in Nuuk, Greenland. At the meeting, the Arctic Council ministers signed the Search and Rescue Agreement (PDF), which is the first-ever legally binding agreement to be signed under the Arctic Council. The agreement mandates that the seven signatory countries cooperate in a 13-million square […]
On Tuesday, Quebec’s Prime Minister Jean Charest officially launched the Plan Nord, or Northern Plan. It is a grand, 25-year, CAN $88 billion plan for economic and social development in a region rich in natural resources. Northern Quebec comprises the 72% of the province which lies north of the 49th parallel. It’s home to 120,000 […]
For years now, the U.S. military’s responsibilities in the Arctic had been divided up amongst three geographic combatant commands: USNORTHCOM, USEUCOM, and USPACOM. The area of responsibility (AOR) for NORTHCOM, which was established by the 2002 Unified Command Plan following the 9/11 attacks, included all of North America. Alaska, however, though technically assigned to NORTHCOM, […]
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party will no longer have to experience the frustration of being a minority government. In today’s elections in Canada, the Tories won 167 seats in Parliament, easily surpassing the 155 necessary to form a majority. This will be Canada’s first majority government in nearly 10 years, which should make it […]
The Canadian election is coming around the corner on May 2, 2011. With that, here is an update on where things stand, including the surprising results of two recent polls, showing the NDP catching up to the Conservatives. Forum Research Poll: Canada: Con 36% | NDP 25% | Lib 23% | BQ 6% | Grn […]
South Korea has an icebreaker and a polar research program with a station at Ny-Alesund. It has applied for observer status in the Arctic Council. Soon, it may also build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Northwest Territories. This past January, executives from the Korean Gas Corp. (KOGAS) visited Inuvik, NWT to consider […]
Dennis Bevington has represented the riding of the Western Arctic in parliament for the past two terms. But his time in office may soon be up. The Tories and Liberals are taking on the New Democratic Party incumbent in a tightening three-way race. Bevington is competing against the Conservatives’ Sandy Lee, former minister of health […]
Since 2009, NASA’s Operation IceBridge has researched changes in sea ice at the North and South Poles. This year’s Arctic expedition, which is based in Thule, Greenland kicked off last month by taking images of the northwest region of the island. As IceBridge gathers data using instruments flown in an airplane, it is different than […]
On Wednesday evening, NYU’s Center for Global Affairs and the Quebec Government Office in New York City cohosted a panel on economic development and sustainable livelihoods in the Arctic. The three panelists brought perspectives from the hard sciences, political science, and the Inuit to the discussion. Dr. Louis Fortier, Erica Dingman, and Udloriak Hanson each […]
NYU’s Center for Global Affairs will be hosting the second panel in its series on the Arctic tomorrow, Wednesday, April 6th from 6:30 – 7:45 pm at the Woolworth Building in downtown Manhattan. Entitled “Going North: Economic Development and Sustainable Livelihoods,” this panel will focus on how economic development and sustainable livelihoods can be balanced […]