From International Governance to Region Building in the Arctic?

• Published in: New Global Studies
• Main Author: Sørensen Anne Toft
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Arctic; Barents Sea; Arctic Council
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1515/ngs-2013-014

The aim of this article is to assess whether circumpolar governance structures have been strengthened so substantially within the last few years that one may rightfully speak of a new level of international cooperation in the High North. Building on a framework of regional integration, the analysis focuses on two recent international agreements: one pertaining to the resolution of a maritime dispute in the Barents Sea; the other to coordination of search and rescue activities under the auspices of the Arctic Council. The article seeks to answer how these agreements are interconnected; why they have strengthened the existing international legal regimes for circumpolar governance; and finally considers whether the two cases represent a shift from intergovernmental cooperation toward regional integration if one considers these opposite ends of a continuum of circumpolar cooperation.