Polar Geopolitics - Arctic and Antarctic analysis

Facing the most serious crisis since its founding in 1996, the future of the Arctic Council—currently on pause due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—has become fraught with uncertainty. What role, if any, can Russia possibly play in polar governance institutions if and when the conflict it started eventually subsides? Evan T. Bloom, a Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center’s Polar Institute who was instrumental in the Council’s establishment and evolution during his long career as the top polar official at the U.S. State Department, joins the podcast to discuss Arctic and Antarctic governance in the aftermath of the war in Ukraine. Support the production of the Polar Geopolitics podcast through our PayPal or Patreon pages.

Arctic and Russia expert Caroline Kennedy-Pipe, Professor of War Studies at Loughborough University, joins the podcast for a wide-ranging discussion on the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Arctic and Baltic security, Eurasian geopolitics and the liberal international order, as well as the threat of nuclear escalation and the possibility that great power competition between the United States, Russia and China could result in a new Cold War. Prof. Kennedy-Pipe also shares insights on the new UK Arctic military strategy and the lessons and legacies of the Falklands War forty years ago. Support for the Polar Geopolitics podcast can be provided via PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KXUVZKGALMFXU or Patreon https://www.patreon.com/polargeopolitics

Klaus Dodds, professor of geopolitics at Royal Holloway University of London and author of the recent book Border Wars: The Conflicts that will Define our Future, joins the podcast to discuss the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the Arctic Council and Antarctic Treaty System, on Baltic security and UNCLOS processes, and the ways in which the war has deeply disrupted the liberal international order, and potentially ushered in a new era of de-globalization.

The tensions in Arctic relations that began after the 2014 Crimea crisis will in all likelihood be greatly exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Could the new security situation in Europe, together with the increased military activity in the High North in recent years, lead to an Arctic arms race? Russia and Arctic expert Mathieu Boulègue, a research fellow at the Russia and Eurasia programme at Chatham House, joins the podcast to provide a real time analysis of the war in Ukraine, the new geopolitical reality in Europe, and the potential implications for Arctic security.

Camp Century, a 1960s US Army base embedded in the Greenland ice sheet, was not only a High Arctic test site for advanced technologies—including a modular nuclear reactor—and secret military schemes at the height of the Cold War, but also a seminal location for the extraction of ice cores that would become an important baseline for modern climate science. Associate professor Kristian H. Nielsen of Aarhus University, who-coauthored a definitive account of this fascinating chapter of Cold War history, “Camp Century: The Untold Story of America's Secret Arctic Military Base Under the Greenland Ice” (Columbia University Press, 2021), joins the podcast to discuss this audacious geostrategic initiative and its enduring afterlife that has continued to complicate Denmark-US-Greenland relations for over 60 years. 

The European Union updated its Arctic policy in October with a communication that took a strong stand on climate change—calling for hydrocarbons to be left in the ground—and pronounced its status as an Arctic geopolitical actor that would assert its interests across the circumpolar North. Ambassador Michael Mann, the EU Special Envoy for Arctic Matters, joins the Polar Geopolitics podcast for an in-depth discussion on the multiple dimensions of the European Union’s engagement in the Arctic, from interactions with Russia, China and the United States, to plans for opening an EU office in Greenland, and its ongoing quest to become an Arctic Council observer.

Despite asserting itself as a regional and global power, Brazil has traditionally taken a back seat to Chile and Argentina in terms of the Antarctic geopolitics of South America. Why has this been the case, and will Brazil continue its somewhat limited engagement relative to the extensive Antarctic programs of its neighbors? Ignacio Javier Cardone, author of the new book "The Antarctic Politics of Brazil: Where the Tropic meets the Pole" joins the Polar Geopolitics podcast to explain the evolution and future prospects of Brazilian activity in Antarctica, as well as the wider Antarctic geopolitics of Argentina, Chile and other countries of South America.

Australia’s plans to build a 2.7 km airstrip and other infrastructure in the ice-free Vestfold Hills near its Davis Station in East Antarctica have been heavily criticized, primarily on environmental grounds. The aerodrome, which Australia contends would improve scientific access to the continent and facilitate search and rescue operations, could also have an array of geopolitical implications. Antarctic legal expert Jeffrey McGee, an associate professor at the University of Tasmania in Hobart who has come out in support of the project, recently co-authored a report for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, “All-weather aerodrome in Antarctica would be a gamechanger for Australia”. Dr. McGee joins the podcast to explain the strategic rationale and current status of the aerodrome and why he believes, if the plans go forward, it would not only benefit Australia but also other Antarctic stakeholders.    

Hosting scientific facilities representing 12 countries, the Ny-Ålesund Research Station in Svalbard is perhaps the most international location in the Arctic. The former coalmining community, which Norway has over the past 30 years transformed into a leading center of Arctic research, also serves a geopolitical function for many of the states represented there. Associate Prof. Maarten Loonen from the Arctic Center at the University of Gröningen has since the late-1980s been a first-hand witness and participant in Ny-Ålesund’s transformation. Currently the chairman of the Ny-Ålesund Science Managers Committee, Dr. Loonen joins the podcast to discuss the international dynamics and underlying geopolitics of Ny-Ålesund, and recent changes that portend potentially significant changes in the community’s future development. Articles mentioned on the podcast: T Pedersen (2021): The politics of research presence in Svalbard and E Paglia (2020): A higher level of civilisation? The transformation of Ny-Ålesund from Arctic coalmining settlement in Svalbard to global environmental knowledge center at 79° North    

Could the incident of the Ever Given running aground in the Suez Canal, disrupting global trade for six days, be a turning point that leads to an expansion of container shipping along the Northern Sea Route and other Arctic passages? Or will the risks and costs associated with Arctic shipping, even when taking climate change and geopolitics into consideration, continue to exceed those of established Europe-Asia routes for decades to come? On this episode, the Polar Geopolitics podcast takes up these and other questions with shipping industry expert Lars Jensen, CEO of Sea Intelligence Consulting in Copenhagen, Denmark.