Over the Circle

Canada will be returning to the polls on 21 October and just before the election date was confirmed, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quietly published a long-awaited, and according to some commentators, long-delayed, updated set of policies for the Canadian North. The main element of the policy documentation, the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework,… Continue reading On the Eve of an Election Call, Canada Revisits its Arctic Policies →

Map of the Arctic Ocean outside of the Arctic Council Secretariat building, Tromsø [photo by Marc Lanteigne] by Marc Lanteigne Under the administration of Donald Trump, US Arctic policy has experienced wild swings ranging between near-neglect and a more recent and rapid focus on countering perceived great power competition from China and Russia. At the… Continue reading Greenland: The United States’ Fantasy Island →

Very pleased to announce that the fourth edition of Chinese Foreign Policy: An Introduction, written by OtC editor Marc Lanteigne, has been published this month by Routledge. The book examines various facets of China's international policies and strategies using different levels of analysis, including which political actors within China are contributing what to foreign policymaking,… Continue reading Interlude: ‘Chinese Foreign Policy (4th Edition)’ is Published →

This week has seen abnormally high temperatures across much of the northern hemisphere, including in Canada, the US, and much of Western Europe, as well as heat records broken in France, Germany and the Netherlands. Although higher-than-average summer temperatures are starting to become the norm in many parts of the world, what is also causing specific concern this… Continue reading Arctic Heatwave: The Fire This Time →

Despite recent calls in Washington for an increased presence in the Arctic, albeit one more heavily focused on the development of US military and hard power interests, American Arctic research stood poised to take a giant step backward this month in the wake of deep funding cuts to financial support for the University of Alaska (UA) by… Continue reading An Arctic University on the Brink →