Author: Over the Circle

The Northwest Passage, traditionally defined as the Arctic waters between Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait in the east to the Bering Strait in the west, is emerging as a major issue for both Canadian and greater Arctic affairs as a result of eroding ice and the possibility of the waterway being used in the… Continue reading The Northwest Passage: Present Status and Emerging Questions →

This month, it was reported that Inuit populations in northern Canada and Greenland were seeking to assume greater control over the waters which separate Nunavut’s Baffin and Ellesmere Islands on two sides and Greenland on the other. This was in response to a report released in November this year by the Pikialasorsuaq Commission of the… Continue reading On Greenland’s Political Future: State or Wait? →

6 December marked the hundredth anniversary of the independence of Finland (Suomi) from what was then the nascent Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). Since that time the country has sought to carve out a distinct identity with, on one side, the Nordic region and on the other, greater Europe and the Soviet Union /… Continue reading Hyvää Syntymäpäivää!* Finland’s Centenary and the Arctic →

As the polar ice cap continues to melt at record levels during the summer months, the question of how potential fishing areas in the central Arctic Ocean (CAO) has been growing in urgency in recent years. Thus, many observers welcomed the news this week that an international agreement to regulate and restrict fishing in the… Continue reading Dealing with the Doughnut Hole: A Fishing Agreement for the Central Arctic →

After a month of coalition negotiations following Iceland’s 28 October parliamentary election between two veterans of many previous governments, the centre-right Independence Party (Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn), or IP, and the Progressive Party (Framsóknarflokkurinn), and the Left-Green Movement (Vinstrihreyfingin – grænt framboð) or VG, a deal was struck this week. Katrín Jakobsdóttir [In Icelandic], leader of the Left-Greens, became… Continue reading Iceland’s New Government: Meet Me In the Middle →