Author: Over the Circle

by Marc Lanteigne After a (long!) interlude between Semicircle video posts, we're trying again with a new short video clip which gives a brief overview of the Arctic Council at a time when that organisation is facing a great deal of international attention, (along with the Arctic itself!). What is the Arctic Council? (video -… Continue reading What is the Arctic Council? A Semicircle Video →

by Mingming Shi 1) An interview on the topic of new Russian weapons systems, and how they would affect Norwegian and Arctic security, was published on the High North News. Two researchers interviewed for the piece were Dr Paal Sigurd Hilde, an Associate Professor at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS) in Oslo, and Dr… Continue reading Arctic News Roundup: 24 February-1 March →

by Mingming Shi 1) Ulrik Pram Gad, an Associate Professor at Aalborg University, Denmark argued that the Danish government needed to consider better ways of including both the Faroe Islands and Greenland in the Kingdom's foreign policy deliberations, in a commentary published by the Danish news service Altinget. 2) The Russian vessel Arktika, (Арктика), which… Continue reading Arctic News Roundup: 17-23 February →

by Marc Lanteigne In November of last year, Mr Urmas Reinsalu, Foreign Minister of Estonia (Eesti), announced his government would seek to join the Arctic Council as a formal observer, early next year, when the next ministerial meeting of the organisation takes place in Reykjavík. Currently Estonia is the only country to have officially announced… Continue reading Estonia’s Arctic Thinking →

by Mingming Shi 1) Morgunblaðið, or mbl.is, an Icelandic news agency, commented on the country's employment situation involving foreign laborers. Generally, the employment rate of  foreign nationals is high in Iceland, and have contributed to the country's high economic performance in recent years. However, in recent months, the unemployment rate of foreign laborers has risen… Continue reading Arctic News Roundup: 10-16 February →