Polar Geopolitics - Arctic and Antarctic analysis

Rasmus Leander Nielsen, an expert in Greenlandic foreign policy and the head of NASIFIC at the University of Greenland, dives into Greenland's evolving role in Arctic diplomacy. He discusses how the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have reshaped Arctic governance. Nielsen highlights Greenland's rising independence since the 1970s and the complexity of its relationships with larger powers like the U.S. The conversation also navigates the challenges of leading the Arctic Council amidst geopolitical tensions and the need for sustainable initiatives.

Jeppe Kofod, Denmark’s foreign minister during Trump’s first Greenland gambit, joins the podcast to analyze the current situation and share insights from his central role in resolving the previous U.S.-Denmark-Greenland crisis in 2019. Polar Geopolitics has now started a Substack where we will provide edited episode transcripts, original articles and analyses, and other content on geopolitics, the Arctic and Antarctica:  https://polargeopolitics.substack.com  Polar Geopolitics on Twitter / X: @polargeopol Polar Geopolitics YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PolarGeopolitics    Polar Geopolitics on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/polargeopolitics/ Polar Geopolitics website: http://www.polargeopolitics.com Polar Geopolitics on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KXUVZKGALMFXU

In this third part of the “Future of the Arctic Council” session recorded live at Arctic Frontiers, Dr. Volker Rachold and Dr. Elana Wilson Rowe discuss the continued importance, despite recent shocks to the international system, of Arctic cooperation in the context of global governance. Topics include the imperative of managing environmental problems in the Arctic and elsewhere, the Council’s strong connections to wider international processes, and how Arctic Council observer states have succeeded in embedding themselves in Arctic affairs through scientific cooperation. Volker Rachold is Head of the German Arctic Office at the Alfred Wegener Institute, and Elana Wilson Rowe is Research Professor and Head of the Center for Ocean Governance at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and Professor in Global Governance at the Norwegian University of the Life Sciences. Polar Geopolitics has now started a Substack where we will provide edited episode transcripts, original articles and analyses, and other content on geopolitics, the Arctic and Antarctica:  https://polargeopolitics.substack.com  Polar Geopolitics on Twitter / X: @polargeopol Polar Geopolitics YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PolarGeopolitics    Polar Geopolitics on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/polargeopolitics/ Polar Geopolitics website: http://www.polargeopolitics.com Polar Geopolitics on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KXUVZKGALMFXU

In May, the Kingdom of Denmark takes over from Norway chairship of an Arctic Council that continues to face an array of significant challenges in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other geopolitical developments. At the same time, there has also been uncertainty on whether the center of gravity of the Kingdom’s chairship will be in Copenhagen or in the Greenlandic capital of Nuuk. Here in part 2 of the “Future of the Arctic Council” session recorded live at the recent Arctic Frontiers conference, Christian Prip, senior researcher at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, and Gosia Smieszek-Rice, postdoctoral researcher at the Arctic University of Norway, discuss the Kingdom of Denmark’s rapidly approaching chairship, the transition from Norway to Denmark, and some of the pressing issues that Nuuk and Copenhagen will face in leading the Council’s efforts to bring a degree of coherence to Arctic governance despite difficult geopolitical conditions. Polar Geopolitics has now started a Substack where we will provide edited episode transcripts, original articles and analyses, and other content on geopolitics, the Arctic and Antarctica:  https://polargeopolitics.substack.com  Polar Geopolitics on Twitter / X: @polargeopol Polar Geopolitics YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PolarGeopolitics    Polar Geopolitics on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/polargeopolitics/ Polar Geopolitics website: http://www.polargeopolitics.com Polar Geopolitics on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KXUVZKGALMFXU

Two Arctic Council insiders discuss the unique qualities and key role the Council continues to play even after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cast it into crisis three years ago. Jennifer Spence, Director of the Arctic Initiative at Harvard’s Belfer Center, and Rolf Rødven, Executive Secretary of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, sat down with Polar Geopolitics at the Arctic Frontiers conference for a live podcast recording on the future of the Arctic Council. In the session organized by the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Polar Geopolitics and Arctic Frontiers, Rødven and Spence argued that science diplomacy generated through Arctic Council Working Groups, as well as the participation of indigenous peoples’ groups in the Council’s work, has helped maintain a degree of exceptionalism in Arctic governance despite the fraught geopolitical situation. This is the first of three podcast episodes on the future of the Arctic Council recorded live at Arctic Frontiers in Tromsø, Norway on January 27, 2025. Polar Geopolitics on Twitter / X: @polargeopol Polar Geopolitics YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PolarGeopolitics    Polar Geopolitics on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/polargeopolitics/ Polar Geopolitics website: http://www.polargeopolitics.com Polar Geopolitics on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KXUVZKGALMFXU

In the midst of intense international interest in Greenland, general elections have been called for March 11th, with potential geopolitical implications across a range of issues, including independence from the Kingdom of Denmark. To explain the stakes and dynamics of the upcoming election, and analyze regional security in the context of U.S. interest in acquiring Greenland, joining the podcast is Dr. Rasmus Leander Nielsen, head of the Centre for Foreign & Security Policy at the University of Greenland in Nuuk. He also analyzes relations between Copenhagen and Nuuk, as well as Greenland’s geopolitical position and natural resources, which has attracted great interest not only from the United States but also from China and the European Union. In addition, Dr. Leander Nielsen discusses the Kingdom of Denmark’s upcoming chairship of the Arctic Council, where Greenland will play a leading role. Polar Geopolitics on Twitter / X: @polargeopol Polar Geopolitics YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PolarGeopolitics    Polar Geopolitics on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/polargeopolitics/ Polar Geopolitics website: http://www.polargeopolitics.com Polar Geopolitics on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KXUVZKGALMFXU

Independence or an American acquisition of Greenland would fracture the Kingdom of Denmark as currently constituted. On this episode, associate professor Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, research director at the Center for Arctic Security Studies at the Royal Danish Defence College, explains how and why Copenhagen intends to keep the Kingdom intact, while also accommodating the interests of Greenlanders and avoiding alienating its closest ally, the United States, at a time of great turbulence in the European security environment. Polar Geopolitics on Twitter / X: @polargeopol Polar Geopolitics YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PolarGeopolitics    Polar Geopolitics on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/polargeopolitics/ Polar Geopolitics website: http://www.polargeopolitics.com Polar Geopolitics on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KXUVZKGALMFXU  

An in-depth discussion with Klaus Dodds, professor of Geopolitics at Royal Holloway University of London, on Donald Trump’s latest Greenland gambit and how the incoming US president’s geographical imagination might shape Arctic geopolitics and the liberal international order in an era of great power competition. Polar Geopolitics on Twitter / X: @polargeopol Polar Geopolitics YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PolarGeopolitics    Polar Geopolitics on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/polargeopolitics/ Polar Geopolitics website: http://www.polargeopolitics.com Polar Geopolitics on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KXUVZKGALMFXU

Arctic security, critical undersea infrastructure and Russian strategic calculations are in focus as Mathieu Boulègue joins the podcast to analyze the wider geopolitical consequences of recent events and upheavals in Ukraine, Syria, the Baltic Sea and beyond. Consulting Fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, Boulègue discusses the effects of Russia’s war against Ukraine on its military posture in the Arctic, the introduction of North Korean troops into the war, Russia-China relations and possible collaboration on hybrid activities such as seabed cable sabotage, and how Donald Trump could impact the United States’ increasingly comprehensive Arctic engagement. Mathieu Boulègue report for Wilson Center "Arctic Seabed Warfare against Data Cables":  https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/arctic-seabed-warfare-against-data-cables-risks-and-impact-us-critical-undersea    Polar Geopolitics on Twitter / X: @polargeopol Polar Geopolitics YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PolarGeopolitics    Polar Geopolitics on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/polargeopolitics/ Polar Geopolitics website: http://www.polargeopolitics.com Polar Geopolitics on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KXUVZKGALMFXU

Many observers considered the 43rd annual CCAMLR meeting in Hobart a major disappointment due to the failure to renew important protections on krill fisheries and the continued lack of progress on marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. Some are even concerned that the breakdown in consensus, centered on China and Russia refusing to extend existing or institute new protection measures, foreshadows greater geopolitical problems infecting Antarctic governance. To analyze the complexities of CCAMLR and what the meeting might portend for the future of the Antarctic Treaty System, Dr. Tony Press from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania joins the podcast, sharing insights from decades of direct involvement with the science and geopolitics of Antarctica as Australia’s former CCAMLR commissioner and chairman (2002-2006) of the Antarctic Treaty’s Committee for Environmental Protection. Polar Geopolitics on Twitter / X: @polargeopol Polar Geopolitics YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PolarGeopolitics    Polar Geopolitics on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/polargeopolitics/ Polar Geopolitics website: http://www.polargeopolitics.com Polar Geopolitics on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/polargeopolitics Polar Geopolitics on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KXUVZKGALMFXU