After the tumultuous Arctic Council Ministerial meeting in Rovaniemi two years ago, which concluded with no unanimous formal declaration, and with a significant wedge driven between the United States and the other seven members of the organisation, there was an general feeling of relief that this we
Remarks
Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center
Reykjvik, Iceland
May 20, 2021
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, thank you very much, and I recognize that we’re the only thing standing between us and the signing ceremony, so we’ll try to be brief.
Foreign ministers, permanent participant heads of delegation, working group representatives, Arctic Council observers and guests, it really is an honor to join you for this meeting of the Arctic Council. And I’m especially pleased to be here today with Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, a longstanding leader and expert on Arctic issues.
Gudlaugur, thank you so much for your incredibly warm hospitality, and to you and to Iceland for remarkably strong and effective leadership of the council during your chairmanship despite, as everyone has noted, the hardships of COVID-19.
Moscow urges dialogue without confrontation in the activity of Arctic Council: Lavrov
According to the foreign minister, it is necessary to manage the Arctic Region on the basis of partnership and consensus of the countries responsible for its further development
MOSCOW, May 19//TASS/. Russia urges dialogue in the activity of the Arctic Council, avoiding confrontational approaches, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a video address marking the Council’s 25th anniversary.
Read also The settlement of problems emerging in the polar region often necessitates the participation of non-regional international players. These are above all the states and organizations having an observer status in the Council. There are 38 of them currently, Lavrov said.
Posted April 23, 2021
The central question in Arctic regional relations over the last decade has been to what degree developments in the north can be insulated from events and relationships elsewhere. If the goal is to keep the Arctic as a separate, “exceptional” region of cooperation, the Arctic states have managed to do a relatively good job, despite setbacks due to the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The most pressing regional challenge, however, is how to deal with Arctic-specific security concerns, which are often excluded from cooperative forums and venues. As great-power politics has emerged on the agenda in recent years, finding ways to raise security concerns and alleviate pressures perhaps even develop codes of conduct has become more urgent.
Antiwar.com Original
Washington’s hypocrisy and the frontiers of its New Cold War (of choice) appear to know no bounds. Eastern Europe is the classic theater of course, but you’ll hear the Pentagon’s new buzzword-acronym priority purpose, great power competition (GPC) – etched in senseless stone with the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) – peddled to justify military missions in the Middle East, Central and East Asia, across Africa, and now at the very roof of the world: the frigid Arctic. Hey, it’s hard to think of a better setting for a Cold War, am I right? At least if you’re into playing what