Pan Arctic Forum

World Policy blog posted an article titled, “Stronger Together: Weaving Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science.” The article reads in part as follows;

“As the president of the Saami Council, Áile Javo, reminded the Arctic Council in 2015, “neither science nor traditional knowledge alone can provide the answers needed to face the impacts of Arctic change.” Since its founding, the Arctic Council has recognized the importance of working with both Western science and Indigenous Knowledge, also referred to as Traditional Knowledge, to address challenges in the Arctic. But the process of incorporating two different knowledge systems into Arctic Council research and projects has proven difficult and slow.

World Plicy Blog uploaded an article titled, “No PAME No Gain for Indigenous Groups.” The article reads in part as follows;

“We all know the Arctic is melting. What is not clear is whether indigenous rights are disappearing alongside it. The retreating ice has attracted interest as new shipping routes and fishing areas become more accessible, and the potential for discovering and extracting from natural resource reserves increases. As attention is drawn to economic opportunities, environmentalists are pushing to protect marine ecosystems from further harm. But as these interests converge in the Arctic, the role of indigenous groups has become muddled and their voices subdued. An open discussion with all stakeholders is required to form sustainable solutions, and the Protection of Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) Working Group of the Arctic Council is designed for that purpose.

World Policy Blog posted an article titled, “Breaking the Ice for Indigenous Voices on the World Stage.” The article reads in part as follows;

“‘Inuit with our fellow Indigenous Peoples are not stakeholders. We are the main players’. This is how J. Okalik Eegeesiak, current chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, ended her February 2016 speech titled ‘An Inuit Vision of the Arctic in 2045‘ in front of the Wilton Park international forum in London. Unfortunately, her description of indigenous peoples’ roles is not reflected in state policies anywhere in the world. Today, indigenous representatives continue to struggle to make their voices heard in a system that favors state-centric forms of governance and Westphalian concepts of nationhood and sovereignty. The creation of the Arctic Council, however, may have broken the ice for indigenous groups by promoting a higher level of participation in both regional and international institutions.

Digital Journal published an article titled, “Trump administration quickly OKs first Arctic drilling plan.” The article reads in part as follows;

“Eni S.p.A., an Italian multinational oil, and gas company has received federal approval to drill for oil in federal waters offshore Alaska, as President Trump makes good on his promise to make America energy independent.

The last time any drilling was done was in 2015 when Royal Dutch Shell ended its exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea after the ship they were leasing suffered a gash in the mostly uncharted waters and environmentalists discovered an existing law that limited the company’s ability to drill, according to Reuters.

USNI News published an article titled, “Senators Renew Call to Ratify Law of the Sea Treaty to Help Chart Future of the Arctic.” The article reads in part as follows;

“Two key senators have renewed a more than 30-year-old United States call to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty in order to have a seat at the table involving the Arctic’s future.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Wednesday by not ratifying the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea the United States is locked out of international enforcement of what it considers its outer continental shelf for possible development and protection, the seabed and fisheries.

The Huffington Post published an article online titled, “Russia, the Arctic, and the Consequence of Failure.” The article reads in part as follows;

“This year, the United States turned over the two-year chairmanship term of the Arctic Council to Finland. The Council is the representative group of nations with direct connection to the circumpolar Arctic region, augmented by observer nations and organizations with interest but no contiguous geographical connection. The US had proposed a very ambitious agenda, moderate in its focus on balance between economic development and sustainability. Despite such good intentions and the strong support of the Obama administration, the chairmanship achieved only modest progress. Under the Trump administration there has yet been no clarification of the U.S. position.

Newsweek uploaded an article online titled, “How China’s Arctic Empire will Upset the Global Balance of Power.” The article reads in part as follows;

“Every January, thousands of sculptors head to China’s northernmost city, Harbin, armed with tools, chisels and thick gloves. Cheeks reddened by cold—the temperature can fall to minus 36 degrees in Harbin—the sculptors carve snow angels, cathedrals and cities out of shimmering, translucent ice.

But however much China wishes it was, this is not the Arctic. Harbin, sits 1,440 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Temperatures are currently pushing 86 degrees, and more ice creams are being bought than ice sculptures made.

World Policy blog posted an article titled, “Is the Arctic Council Still a Visionary Leader?” The article reads in part as follows;

“Many thought he was sick; some feared he was dead. But in October 1987, after 51 days spent planning in seclusion, Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev emerged in Murmansk and gave birth to a new Arctic. Gorbachev envisioned the Arctic as a “zone of peace”—a place where the threat of nuclear attack that plagued the Cold War vanished, where countries could collaborate on Arctic science and share best practices for resource development and environmental protection, and where indigenous people had a role in shaping decisions. The idea of a peaceful area shared by East and West was a conceptual shift following failed negotiations over nuclear weapons and increased militarization in the North.

World Policy Blog posted an article titled, “The Arctic Council: A Unique Institution in 21st-Century International Relations.” The article reads in part as follows;

“‘These are urgent times’, warned Carnegie Corporation president Vartan Gregorian, ‘that require up-to-date, in-depth research to allow the vast learning reservoir of our universities to be of assistance to practitioners in the public and foreign policy domains’. This 13-part blog series about the Arctic Council attempts to do just that. In their contributions, International Policy Institute Arctic Fellows in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington endeavor to adapt in-depth research projects to policy-relevant articles. Their pieces examine the role of the Arctic Council in international relations outside the region, and why it is critical that practitioners understand the contours of this relatively new organization.

The Daily Star published an article online titled, “The rising stakes for ocean governance.” The article reads in part as follows;

“World oceans play the crucial role of a life support in poverty alleviation, food security, human health, and curbing climate change. But our oceans are increasingly being threatened and degraded by human-induced climate change, natural disasters, depletion of fisheries, loss of biodiversity, etc.