Diplomacy and the Arctic Council
When the Russian-Ukrainian conflict over the Crimea region erupted in 2014, serious concerns were raised as to the implications and impacts of this conflict on Arctic cooperation. Through Ukraine is not in the Arctic region, it is a partner state of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the def...
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Format: | Book |
Language: | English |
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McGill-Queen's University Press
2019
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Online Access: | https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/da/publications/6370979e-8f09-449a-9685-f469e107ca8f https://www.mqup.ca/diplomacy-and-the-arctic-council-products-9780773559196.php |
Summary: | When the Russian-Ukrainian conflict over the Crimea region erupted in 2014, serious concerns were raised as to the implications and impacts of this conflict on Arctic cooperation. Through Ukraine is not in the Arctic region, it is a partner state of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the defence treaty alliance originally set up to counter the rise of communism and the security threat coming from the Soviet Union. All the Arctic states, with the exception of Russia, are either members or partner states of this alliance. This book argues that the Arctic Council is a club under the direction of the Arctic states who use the forum as a vessel to define and guide the parameters of their cooperation. The Arctic states are the central club members, and they act in ways that reflect the club’s objectives, which they have defined and which in turn reflect the internal pecking orders that exist between the club members. Understanding how regional cooperation works through the Arctic Council requires researchers to first come to terms with the reality of why the club came into existence. The Arctic Council was established to discuss work on environmental protection and sustainable development issues, the fact that these are the focus areas of the forum reflect what members are willing to discuss for possible shared solutions and opportunities. Understanding this context, and how that club is managed and how it has evolved over time, helps us understand why an event, like the 2014 Ukraine conflict, did not halt Arctic cooperation. |
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