Arctic News and Analysis
by Mingming Shi 1) According to Morgunblaðið, a local news agency in Iceland, the country's Foreign Minister, Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, has been hinting that the country may reopen to welcome foreign visitors in the near future. 2) Also in Morgunblaðið, it was reported that Iceland glaciers have been observed to have shrunk significantly in the past two… Continue reading Arctic News Roundup: 4-10 May
by Marc Lanteigne Since the beginning on 2019, the government of the United States has begun to consider the Arctic as an emerging region of insecurity, one not created by climate change, (which the current administration continues to maintain does not exist), but rather by great power pressures being applied in the region by Russia… Continue reading Cold Games? The US Navy (Re-)Enters the Barents Sea
by Mingming Shi 1) Marc Lanteigne, Chief Editor at Over the Circle, commented on the identity diplomacy of China in Arctic affairs for the Arctic Institute. This piece explained how Beijing has been utilising the concept of being a ‘near-Arctic state’ and how it has been building up its relations with the Arctic states, via the ‘Polar… Continue reading Arctic News Roundup: 27 April – 3 May
by Mingming Shi The Making of an Independent State Iceland has been an independent State since 1944 and before that time, it was part of the Danish monarchy, similar to the status of the Faroe Islands and Greenland today. Denmark used to maintain centuries-long rule over Iceland since the 1380s, and had a profound impact… Continue reading An Introduction to Icelandic Politics
by Mingming Shi 1) At the beginning of the week, Carla Sands, the US Ambassador to Denmark, published a comment in the Danish news service Altinget, arguing that the West should be more aware of Russia and China in the Arctic region, and the US had intended to strengthen its financial presence in Greenland. A few… Continue reading Arctic News Roundup: 20-26 April
