Arctic Ambitions

Annotation This title addresses China's ever increasing interest in the Arctic, and in Canada's Far North in particular. It offers a holistic approach to the subject - covering resource development, shipping, scientific research, governance, and military strategy - to better understand both Chinese motivations and the potential impacts of a greater Chinese presence in the circumpolar region. The book draws on extensive research into published Chinese government documentation, secondary source analysis, business and media reports, and the existing academic literature.

While dreams of a passage proved illusory, Captain James Cook's journey produced some of the finest charts, collections, and anthropological observations of his career. It also helped establish British relations with Russia and opened the door to the hugely influential maritime fur trade. This collection of essays from an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars - including former Vancouver Maritime Museum executive director James P. Delgado and University of Alberta historian I.S. MacLaren - uses artifacts, charts, and records of the encounters between Native peoples and explorers to tell the story of this remarkable voyage.

China's Arctic Ambitions and What They Mean for Canada is an in-depth studies of China's increasing interest in the Arctic. It offers a holistic approach to understanding Chinese motivations and the potential impacts of greater Chinese presence in the circumpolar region, exploring resource development, shipping, scientific research, governance, and security. Drawing on extensive research in Chinese government documentation, business and media reports, and current academic literature, this timely volume eschews the traditional assumption that Chinese actions are unified and monolithic in their approach to Arctic affairs. Instead, it offers a careful analysis of the different, and often competing, interests and priorities of Chinese government and industry. Analyzing Chinese interests and activities from a Canadian perspective, the book provides an unparalleled point of reference to discuss the implications for the Canadian and broader circumpolar North.

Rather than a single national perspective, The Fast-Changing Arctic brings together circumpolar viewpoints from North America, Europe and Asia for an integrated discussion of strategic military, diplomatic, and security challenges in the high North. Thoughtful analyses are included of different regions, climate issues, institutions, and foreign and security policies."--Pub. desc.

The 1927 autobiography, in English translation, of the first man to traverse the North-West Passage and to reach the South Pole.

The Arctic's environment, economics and politics are changing rapidly, and the conflicting interests among stakeholders mean that it lacks sustainable political and military cooperation. States bordering the Arctic — Russia, Canada, the United States, and the Nordic countries — as well as those further afield — such as China and Japan — all recognize the economic benefits of the region, but struggle to address the security challenges and the potential environmental impact of activities conducted there. This book provides a snapshot of the subject areas connecting transport, environmental security, resource development, and military security, featuring new material written after Russia's second invasion of Ukraine.

Greenland and the International Politics of a Changing Arctic examines the international politics of semi-independent Greenland in a changing and increasingly globalised Arctic. Without sovereign statehood, but with increased geopolitical importance, independent foreign policy ambitions, and a solidified self-image as a trailblazer for Arctic indigenous peoples’ rights, Greenland is making its mark on the Arctic and is in turn affected – and empowered – by Arctic developments. The chapters in this collection analyse how a distinct Greenlandic foreign policy identity shapes political ends and means, how relations to its parent state of Denmark is both a burden and a resource, and how Greenlandic actors use and influence regional institutional settings as well as foreign states and commercial actors to produce an increasingly independent – if not sovereign – entity with aims and ambitions for regional change in the Arctic. This is the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of Greenland’s international relations and how they are connected to wider Arctic politics. It will be essential reading for students and scholars interested in Arctic governance and security, international relations, sovereignty, geopolitics, paradiplomacy, indigenous affairs and anyone concerned with the political future of the Arctic.

Addressing the growing economic, political, and cultural presence of Asian states in the Arctic region, this timely book looks at how that presence is being evaluated and engaged with by Arctic states and their northern communities. A diverse range of authors addresses the question that underpins so much of this interest in Asian engagement with the northern latitudes: what do Asian countries want to gain from the Arctic?