Globalizing Polar Science

The International Polar Years and the International Geophysical Year represented a remarkable international collaborative scientific effort that has been largely neglected by historians. This groundbreaking collection seeks to redress that neglect and illuminate critical aspects of the last 150 years of international scientific endeavour.

The Arctic in Global Affairs examines the forces that are transforming the Arctic region and related issues of governance, resource development, trade, environmental policies, and international cooperation. Globalization and climate change are having a great impact on the physical and political properties the region. From changes at the local community level to possible new trade routes, the political constitution of the Arctic as a region in global politics is undergoing a major shift. Since the Arctic is largely considered as terra nullius, much of the debates center on who owns the Arctic and who should decide. It is not yet clear whether it will become a region of peace and cooperation or one of increased competition and conflict. The Arctic in Global Affairs is a comprehensive text that will appeal to anyone researching Arctic politics and international politics. It provides a unique case study to help understand the nature of global change and promote new concepts in international relations theory.

Final report which examines the NSF role in polar regions and offers 15 specific recommendations to assist the NSF in fulfilling its primary responsibility for polar science and strengthen U.S. research and presence in the polar regions.

Although part of a broader circumpolar world, North America's Arctic and sub-Arctic borders--and the establishment of new boundaries in the wake of significant, and regionally unique, change--are increasingly relevant in the broader, global world. Indeed, the Arctic reality has been dramatically reshaped by new territorial configurations and comprehensive land claims; increasing flows of international investment and trade focused upon resource industries and hydrocarbon extraction; the growing importance and role of sub-national entities, organizations, and Indigenous governments; shifting geopolitical interests; and existential challenges created by climate change and environmental security. This book demonstrates how North America's Arctic borders are being reshaped by globalization even as these borders are adjusting to new internal pressures such as devolution and the rise of sub-national territorial interests. Published in English.

British interest in the Arctic has returned to heights not seen since the end of the Cold War; concerns about climate change, resources, trade, and national security are all impacted by profound environmental and geopolitical changes happening in the Arctic. Duncan Depledge investigates the increasing geopolitical significance of the Arctic and explores why it took until now for Britain – once an ‘Arctic state’ itself – to notice how close it is to these changes, what its contemporary interests in the region are, and whether the British government’s response in the arenas of science, defence, and commerce is enough. This book will be of interest to both academics and practitioners seeking to understand contemporary British interest and activity in the Arctic.

This volume explores the governance of the transforming Arctic from an international perspective. Leading and emerging scholars in Arctic research investigate the international causes and consequences of contemporary Arctic developments, and assess how both state and non-state actors respond to crucial problems for the global community. Long treated as a remote and isolated region, climate change and economic prospects have put the Arctic at the forefront of political agendas from the local to the global level, and this book tackles the variety of involved actors, institutional politics, relevant policy issues, as well as political imaginaries related to a globalizing Arctic. It covers new institutional forms of various stakeholder engagement on multiple levels, governance strategies to combat climate change that affect the Arctic region sooner and more strongly than other regions, the pros and cons of Arctic resource development for the region and beyond, and local and trans-boundary pollution concerns. Given the growing relevance of the Arctic to international environmental, energy and security politics, the volume helps to explain how the region is governed in times of global nexuses, multi-level politics and multi-stakeholderism.

Providing case study analyses of the politics of science in and around the International Polar Year of 2007-2008, this volume makes a distinct contribution to ongoing research focusing on the relationship between science, international politics, law and history. The contributors combine both interdisciplinary and multi-theoretical approaches to engage directly with the most recent debates in international relations scholarship, to include discussions of arctic climate change, governance issues, reflections on the Antarctic Treaty and the science-geopolitics interface amongst others. This is the first comprehensive account to look explicitly at the relationship between global politics and science through an account of the International Polar Years.