This page has a compilation of articles useful for understanding the economy, geopolitics and future of the Arctic world.

Best Of Arctic Progress

A list of the most significant & interesting articles on Arctic Progress.

Core Articles

1. Introduction – Why Arctic Progress? (Sept 2010)
2. ARCS of Progress – The Arctic World in 2050 (Feb 2011)

The Document File

• The Foundations Of The Russian Federation’s State Policy In The Arctic Until 2020 And Beyond (Nov 2010) is my original translation of Russia’s official doctrine on the development and security of its Arctic zone (на русском).

Arctic Civilization: Politics, Peoples, Culture

• Arctic Ramadan & The Muslim North (Sept 2010)
• Photos Of Wrangel Island, An Arctic Apocalypse (Jan 2011)
• ARCS of Progress – The Arctic World in 2050 (Feb 2011)

ARCS of Growth

• Arctic History Begins This Year? (Sept 2010)
• Laurence C. Smith, UCLA geographer: “The New North is well positioned for the coming century” (Sept 2010)
• Barents Booming (Nov 2010)
• ARCS of Progress – The Arctic World in 2050 (Feb 2011)

Alaska

• Alaska Weathers The Economic Storm

Canada

• The Great Scramble For Iron Ore In Arctic Canada (Jan 2011)

Russia

• Redrawing Of The Russian Lands? (Nov 2010)
• Russia’s Population Registers Small Decline In 2010 (Feb 2011)

Scandinavia

• Sweden’s GDP Grows 5.2% In 2010 (Jan 2010)

Arctic Security

• Mercenaries Taking Over Iceland? (Sept 2010)
• Canada’s Plan For Arctic Militarization (Nov 2010)
• Canada Willing To Fight For Its Arctic (Jan 2011)
• Wikileaks: Nordic Alliance Proposals Are “Dreams In Polar Fog” (Feb 2011)

Environment, Climate Change & Limits to Growth

• It’s the Volume that Counts (Sept 2010)
• References On Resource Depletion (Dec 2010)
• Atlantic Current Entering Arctic Warmest In 2000 Years (Jan 2011)

Arctic Travel

• Polar Exploration With Stay At Ice Trapped Ship Off Svalbard (Feb 2011)

Arctic Money: Make Money Off The Melt (Or Just Survive)

• Details On Sovcomflot Privatization, Part 1 (Jan 2011)
• Housing Arrangements on a Melting Planet (Jan 2011)

Best Of The Arctic Web

Books & Reports on Arctic Region

Check back for reviews and summaries.

• Red Arctic: Polar Exploration and the Myth of the North in the Soviet Union, 1932-1939 (John McCannon, 1998)
• How the World will Change – with Global Warming (Trausti Valsson, 2006) – a free book that argues the locus of global development will shift to the poles during this century.
• Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment 2009 Report (Arctic Council, 2009)
• The Future History of the Arctic (Charles Emmerson, 2010)
• The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization’s Northern Future (Laurence C. Smith, 2010)

The Arctic: Economy, Energy, Security

Also consult IPFA’s New Strategic Dynamics in the Arctic Region: Implications for National Security and International Collaboration and Course on Arctic Sovereignty and International Relations.

• As Polar Ice Turns to Water, Dreams of Treasure Abound (Clifford Krauss et al.). October 2005
• As the Arctic ice retreats, the old Great Game begins (Ben Macintyre, The Times). February 2006
• The Norwegian Government’s Strategy for the High North (Norway). February 2008
• L’Arctique, un espace convoité : la militarisation du Nord canadien (Jules Dufour). July 2007
• L’Arctique, militarisation ou coopération pour le développement? (Jules Dufour). July 2007
• Canada Takes on Russia in Race for North Pole (Spiegel). October 2007
• Another big climate bet — Of Ice and Men (Joe Romm, Climate Progress) – a bet that “the Arctic Sea will be essentially ice free by 2020″. Dec 2007
• Arctic Meltdown: The Economy and Security Implications of Global Warming (Scott G. Borgerson, FP) – a classic article on the geopolitics of the new Arctic. March 2008
• The Arctic Oil Rush (Alex Shoumatoff, Vanity Fair). May 2008
• Great Game In A Cold Climate: Canada’s Arctic Sovereignty In Question (Guy Killaby, forces.gc.ca). July 2008
• Medvedev: Arctic resources are key to Russia’s future (Seattle Times). September 2008
• Russia Unveils Aggressive Arctic Plans (Matthias Schepp & Gerald Traufetter, Spiegel). January 2009
• Основы государственной политики Российской Федерации в Арктике на период до 2020 года и дальнейшую перспективу (утвержденный Президентом Российской Федерации Дмитрием Медведевым 18 сентября 2008) – Russia’s doctrine for the development and security of its Arctic region until 2020 and beyond: dull but required reading, see my translation here. March 2009
• China and the Arctic: The Awakening Snow Dragon (Joseph Spears, Jamestown Foundation China Brief). March 2009
• Dawn of a new Arctic (Ed Struzik, The Edmonton Journal). May 2009
• Арктика – приоритет Российской внешней политики (Ольга Колесниченко, Военно-Промышленный Курьер). August 2009
• Cold War in the Arctic (Roger Howard, The Times). September 2009
• Arctic sovereignty: Let’s join the Texan and St. Nick (Rob Huebert, Globe & Mail). November 2009
• Арктика и безопасность России (Анатолий Цыганок, Воина и Мир). November 2009
• A Treaty on Ice (Brendan Borrell, NYT). November 2009
• From Climategate to Copenhagen & The End of the World as We Know It? (Barry Zellen, Alaska Report). December 2009
• Russia and Canada: Partners in the North? (Michael Byers, Globe & Mail) December 2009
• China prepares for an ice-free Arctic (Linda Jakobson, SIPRI). March 2010
• China’s Arctic Play (Gordon G. Chang, The Diplomat) – as Chinese hard power grows, so do its expansionist tendencies. March 2010
• War over the Arctic? Global warming skeptics distract us from security risks (Walter Rodgers, CSM). March 2010
• Заседание Совета Безопасности по вопросам изменения климата. March 2010
• We see our Arctic as a colony (Doug Saunders, Globe & Mail). March 2010
• What Moscow wants in the Arctic (Charles Emmerson, FT) – a great summary of why Russia is expanding north: need for strategic depth, and exploitation of new shipping routes and hydrocarbon sources (cached version). April 2010
• Northern Exposures (James Kraska, American Interest) – Moscow’s strategy states that Arctic resources will become the “critical point for the world military balance.” May 2010
• Arctic death spiral: Naval Postgrad School’s Maslowski “projects ice-free* fall by 2016 (+/- 3 yrs)” (Joe Romm, Climate Progress). Jun 2010
• China and the Arctic (Frederic Lasserre, Canadian International Council). June 2010
• Disaster at the Top of the World (Thomas Homer-Dixon, NYT) – and why climate is falling off the political agenda. August 2010
• The Northern Dimension of Canada’s Foreign Policy (Communications Bureau Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade). August 2010
• Arctic sea ice volume heads toward record low as Northwest Passage melts free fourth year in a row(Joe Romm, Climate Progress) – has an excellent compendium of graphs and maps. August 2010
• Le Canada : un plan national pour la militarisation de l’Arctique et de ses ressources stratégiques (Jules Dufour) – see my translation here. September 2010
• L’Arctique, un « diamant précieux » pour l’environnement global et l’humanité (Jules Dufour). September 2010
• The future history of the Arctic is now (Thomas Nielsen, Barents Observer) – the Arctic is becoming a “sea highway between Europe and Asia”. September 2010
• Russia’s Arctic Choice: Cooperation or Conflict? (Dmitri Trenin, Carnegie Endowment). September 2010
• Что получит Заполярье от добычи углеводородов в Арктике (Александр Краскин). September 2010
• Unfreezing Arctic Assets (Laurence C. Smith, WSJ). September 2010
• Russia’s New Front Line (Roger Howard, Survival). September 2010
• The Arctic: A View from Moscow (Dmitri Trenin & Pavel Baev, Carnegie Report). September 2010
• The New Maritime Arctic: Geopolitics and the Russian Arctic in the 21st Century (Caitlyn Antrim, Russia in Global Affairs). October 2010
• Arctic Square of Opportunities: The North Pole and the “Shelf” of Svalbard Cannot Be Norwegian (Alexander Oreshenkov, Russia in Global Affairs). Dec 2010
• Russia’s Arctic Policy: Geopolitics, Mercantilism and Identity-Building (Pavel Baev, FIIA). December 2010
• The Snow Dragon Moves into the Arctic Ocean Basin (Joseph Spears, Jamestown Foundation China Brief). Jan 2011
• The Politics of Security in the Arctic: Enabling innovativeinitiatives in partnership with the Inuit (Lori A. Crowe, Chronique Nord-Nord-Ouest). February 2011

ARCS of Progress

Move over BRICs, BASICs, IBSAs, etc!  In a warming world, the polar regions – Alaska, Russia, Canada and Scandinavia – will reap immense benefits from the growth in shipping, mineral & energy extraction, agriculture, and related services. They are going to be ARCS of Progress.

Alaska

• Check back.

Canada

• Check back.

Russia

• Why Russia is Cemented to the Other BRICs (Anatoly Karlin, Sublime Oblivion). June 2010
• Smart Money Has ‘Train Wreck’ at Top of BRIC League (Eric Kraus). July 2010
• Is Russia the Best BRIC After All? (John Nosh, Financial Times). August 2010

Scandinavia

• The Geopolitics of Sweden: A Baltic Power Reborn (STRATFOR). July 2009

The Arctic Islands

• Greenland: Dubai on the Arctic or slow decline? (“Aslak”, demography.matters). July 2009

Towards an Arctic Civilization

• Love in a cold climate: A life-long obsession with the Arctic (Charles Emmerson, The Independent). February 2010

The Advance of Climate Change

• Climate Change & Pollution Overload: my compendium of climate change definitions, links and maps at S/O. See also Arctic Glossary here. For the lingering deniers, see here.
• Zeeburg Nieuws: compendium of ice-melting links
• Review: Under a Green Sky (Alex Steffen, World Changing). Apr 2007
• Arctic thaw threatens Siberian permafrost (Steve Connor, The Independent). June 2008
• Melting Ice Caps and the Global Ocean (Jamais Cascio, Open the Future). July 2007
• Notes on “Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet” (M. Lynas) (Anatoly Karlin, Sublime Oblivion). Jun 2009
• Notes on “The Last Generation” (F. Pearce) (Anatoly Karlin, Sublime Oblivion). Jun 2009
• The Dilemmas of Global Dimming (Anatoly Karlin, Sublime Oblivion). Jun 2009
• The Final Gambit: Geoengineering (Anatoly Karlin, Sublime Oblivion). Jan 2010
• Simmered to the Edge of the World (Anatoly Karlin, Sublime Oblivion). May 2010
• The influence of the Arctic Oscillation (Neven). Jun 2010
• Global Warming: A Sea Change & The 800 lb. Gorilla in the Ocean (Prof. Mandia). Jun 2010
• A detailed look at climate sensitivity (Joe Romm, Climate Progress). Sept 2010

The Limits to Growth on Earth

The rich bounties of the Arctic will be opening up even as mineral and energy reserves are depleted elsewhere, triggering the gold rush of the 21st century.

• What can we learn from the oil field size distribution? (Khebab, Energy Bulletin). June 2006
• Peak Oil and Resource Depletion (Anatoly Karlin, Sublime Oblivion) – reference source. November 2009.
• Review of “Limits to Growth” by Meadows et al. (Anatoly Karlin, Sublime Oblivion) – all serious followers of global trends need to internalize this seminal book. February 2010
• The Best of TheOilDrum.com 2005-2010 (TOD staff) – an invaluable reference source. December 2010.

Global Trends: Economy, Geopolitics, Technology

• Emerging Technologies: Limits to Growth vs. Moore’s Law (Anatoly Karlin, Sublime Oblivion) – a list of technologies that may help avoid collapse. May 2010
• The Law of Accelerating Returns (Ray Kurzweil, Kurzweil AI) – a techno-utopian vision of how an explosion in machine intelligence may overturn Limits to Growth. March 2001

Abandon Hope All Ye Who Read Here!

• The Earth is about to catch a morbid fever that may last as long as 100,000 years (James Lovelock, The Independent) – believes the Arctic will be humanity’s last refuge from the advancing heat and rising seas (see also 2, 3, 4). January 2006

Due to its nature, this page is under permanent construction.