1st Edition

Arctic: Commerce, Governance and Policy

Edited By Uttam Kumar Sinha, Jo Inge Bekkevold Copyright 2015
    168 Pages
    by Routledge

    172 Pages
    by Routledge

    In May 2013, China, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea (Asia 5) were given status as permanent observers in the Arctic Council. It was a symbolic and significant moment in the history of Arctic affairs. The list of stakeholders in the Arctic has now expanded to include both the Arctic littoral states and the five Asian states. The drivers and policies of these stakeholders on the Arctic vary, but research on climate change, possible changes to the global energy and minerals markets, adherence to international norms like the UNCLOS, and geopolitical considerations are issues of concern.

    This volume is based on the reviewed, revised and updated versions of papers presented at the roundtable on The Geopolitics of the Arctic: Commerce, Governance and Policy hosted by the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in New Delhi in September, 2013, in joint co-operation with the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI), the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS) and Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).We hope that this book, with some compelling perspectives on a number of challenging issues, will help engage the policy community to identify and explore opportunities for international cooperation in the Arctic.

    This book was originally published as a special issue of Strategic Analysis.

    Introduction

    Uttam Kumar Sinha and Jo Inge Bekkevold

    1. Asian Stakes and Arctic Governance

    Olav Schram Stokke

    2. The Northern Sea Route: Smooth Sailing Ahead?

    Arild Moe

    3. The Polar Code and Arctic Navigation

    Vijay Sakhuja

    4. Arctic: The Next Great Game in Energy Geopolitics?

    Shebonti Ray Dadwal

    5. Norway’s High North Policy and New Asian Stakeholders

    Jo Inge Bekkevold and Kristine Offerdal

    6. Russia’s China Policy in the Arctic

    Tom Roseth

    7. Russia’s Strategic Concerns in the Arctic and its impact on Japan-Russia relations: From a Japanese View

    Shinji Hyodo

    8. Arctic and India: Strategic Awareness and Scientific Engagement

    Uttam Kumar Sinha and Arvind Gupta

    9. The Maritime Tiger: Exploring South Korea’s Interests and Role in the ArcticMia M. Bennett

    Commentaries

    10. The Legal Regime of the Arctic and India’s Role and Options

    H.P. Rajan

    11. China’s Role in Arctic Affairs in the Context of Global Governance

    Ye Jiang

    12. Overview of Korea’s Arctic Policy Development

    Jong Deog Kim

    Biography

    Uttam Kumar Sinha is a Fellow at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi, India, and holds an adjunct position at the Malaviya Centre for Peace Research, Benares Hindu University, Varanasi, India. His research areas focus on non-traditional aspects of security with particularly attention on climate change, transboundary water issues and the Arctic region. He is the Academic Editor of Strategic Analysis (Routledge).

    Jo Inge Bekkevold is the Head of the Centre for Asian Security Studies at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, Oslo, Norway. He is a former career diplomat with several postings to Asia for the Norwegian foreign service. His main fields of interest are great power relations in Asia, Chinese foreign policy and China’s political and economic development.