L’amicizia impossibile? Le relazioni economiche tra Italia e Germania negli anni Trenta

This paper relies on primary resources dealing with the history of Oman along with British documents, which are the most important materials that dealt with the situation in the region, in general, and in Oman in Particular, at a time when Britain had power, presence and military control over India through the Government of British India. At that time, Britain tried to open lines of communication and forge agreements with the Arabian Gulf countries in order to secure its control over this vital region and secure communications with its colonies in India.This study focuses on the economic and commercial relations between the two countries including trade of spices, textile, weapons, slaves, dates and other goods, the currencies used in these commercial exchanges, and the volume of trade. It also explores the volatility of these relations in different periods.The study also examines the social and cultural relations, mutual migrations, and military and political ties. In addition, explores various aspects of reciprocal influence between the two areas in different periods and during turbulent times for the sultanate of Oman and the region, prior to, during and after the First World War. It investigates these relations from signing of the treaty of AL-Seeb in 1920 and the stabilization phase created up to the end of the study period.The study has reached a number of conclusions about the development of these relations and the factors influencing this development at a time when sultan Timor tried to maintain independence in running the country despite the British influence. It also focuses on how the sultan attempted to benefit from Britain's need to secure shipping lines by enhancing the sultanate's trade with India until India became the first economic and trade partner with the sultanate during this period. The sultan tried to maintain a friendly relationship with Britain and India, where his currency was mined and where he used to stay for recuperation.Keywords: Oman, India, Contemporary history, Trade and economic relations, Sultan Taimur Bin Faisal Al Busaidi1. IntroductionIndo-Omani relations have possibly not been studied during the reign of SULTAN TAIMUR AL BUSAIDI (1913-1931 AD) for the lack of sources on one hand, and sensibility of wiring modern and contemporary history on the other hand, as well as the absence of Arab and foreign researchers on such task.Of these documents available are: British-Omani (records of Oman), reports of British Navy, annual economic reports on business of Oman, telegrams and reports on Arabian Gulf, Oman and Indo-British Government and its measures taken in Oman and India.It is also included documents relevant to Arabian Sea and Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and summaries for the control of British Navy on firearms trading and slave, movement of population, vessels, and goods from and to Oman.This study tried to describe the Indo-Omani relations during this confused period prior, during, and after the First World War, at time while the area was under the British power through varied British documents, researches, and some Omani locally sources available.Generally, study briefly reviewed the conjunctures in the region, overview on Sultan Taimur and his ruling period, and studied the Indo-Omani relations at various levels, including sub-headlines: Military, Trade of Firearms, Economic and trade relationships, and some tables prepared by the researcher based on sources concerning Indo-Omani Trade, Oman and its deviations as per fiscal years, and finally, cultural impact and exchange migrations of population.2. PrefaceDuring the study, water and shores of the Arabian Gulf were under the command of British Navy, managed by the East India Station (Note 1) which was not to be used by local or international powers without the consent of the British Navy.British documents indicated that the leadership of the British Navy in India, informed their leadership in Britain: it would not allow, even to the British Royal Air Forces, to establish a temporarily stations-in any form-on the shores of Arabian Gulf, without the coordination and approval of the East India station on that( Note 2). …

Defense issues have gained a vital importance today for the Ukrainian people, as well as the protection of state sovereignty and territorial integrity. Since the anti-terrorist operations in Donetsk and Lugansk regions has been launched, the national economy, public authorities, other public bodies, local authorities, Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military units, civil defense forces, enterprises, institutions and organizations were shifted to special period of functioning. The existing significant legal array of economic activities during a special period requires theoretical and legal analysis for proper coordination of legislative norms by their regulatory subject and by their hierarchical structure in order to elaborate some suggestions to amend the existing economic legislation of Ukraine. Economic activity in times of crisis is a separate special mode of economic relations, carried out by public authorities, military command, the military administrations of other government agencies, local governments, enterprises, institutions and organizations during mobilization (except targeted one) in the period of martial law and / or wartime, and partly in the recovery period after the end of hostilities. The scope of economic relations in a particular period is represented by: 1) organizational and economic relations of public authorities, military command, law enforcement, military administration for the proper implementation and further application of a special period; 2) economic and industrial relations of the companies and organizations, performing direct economic activity taking into account regulatory forth restrictions on the rights and freedoms of the activity; 3) intraeconomic relations subject to the limitations of common standards during mobilization (except targeted one) in the period of martial law and / or of war, and partly in recovery period after the end of hostilities. Having considered the current imperfect state of economic activity regulation and economic relations in times of crisis, there were elaborated some practical recommendations, namely: 1) to adopt the Law of Ukraine "On legal regime of the recovery period." 2) to do amendments to Part. 1, Art. 417 of the Commercial Code of Ukraine of January 16, 2003 and put it as follows: "1. In times of crisis the legal mode of economic activity is based on the legislative acts aiming to protect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, establishing and ensuring human rights and freedoms.

This article considers the peculiarities of the functioning of modern military alliances in the Euro-Atlantic space, their role in ensuring international security, as well as the challenges and future prospects associated with their functioning. The overarching goal set by the authors was to conduct a comprehensive study of the major modern military alliances, assessing their effectiveness and broader capacity to influence international politics. A comparative method was used to correlate various aspects of the creation and functioning of modern military alliances and to identify both their shared and unique features. By means of a systematic method, the study examined political, economic, military, social, and cultural aspects affecting the activity of military alliances. Additionally, a prognostic method was applied to project and assess potential future impacts of these military alliances on international politics. The research analyses the key approaches to the interpretation of the concept of a military alliance, and provides an analysis of prominent modern military alliances and initiatives within the Euro-Atlantic space, namely, NATO, PESCO, the Ramstein format, NORDEFCO, FINABEL, and the British–Polish–Ukrainian Trilateral. The assessment of the level of effectiveness of the modern military alliances and initiatives was carried out according to the specified criteria, and highlights the external and internal challenges in the functioning of military alliances. On the basis of comparative studies, it was concluded that NATO is currently the most effective military alliance, while PESCO and NORDEFCO demonstrate a limited level of effectiveness. The main challenges in the functioning of military alliances were identified, including the widespread prevalence of armed conflicts, deficiencies within the modern international security system, violations of the norms of international law, difficulties in making decisions regarding the use of force against the enemy, the hybrid nature of modern military conflicts, as well as the internal disputes between allies, and problems with financing.

Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals

The Sino – Swiss Free Trade Agreement was signed on 6 July 2013 and came into effect in 2014. With the agreement, economic and political relations are developed between two states. We know that bilateral economic relations are increasing complex interdependence among nation states, so political disputes can be solved easily because commerce and economic relations are seen more important than having political disputes. In this article, the Sino – Swiss Free Trade Agreement will be analyzed from the perspective of idealist Norman Angell. According to him, nation states and politicians saw that economic relations can solve political disputes and they don’t want to have conflicts and disputes in which wars would arise; instead they want to increase their trade volumes. Angell states that war is a suicide for humanity. Natural inclination of human beings towards cooperation and peace should be highlighted. Also Angell declares that economic interdependence would prevent wars. Human beings don’t have natural tendency towards war. Bad environmental causes result in wars and deaths. My argument is that Chinese - Swiss economic and political relations are in an idealist form thanks to their strong commercial relations. Also, I am defending that in the 21st century, this system will continue between these two states unless a big change occurs in international politics and thoughts of idealism in international relations theory are more reasonable than arguments of realist theory.

The growing needs of Southeast European (SEE) countries are seldom accompanied by the necessary resources to meet them. For that reason‚ most SEE countries attribute great significance to deepening economic relations with Turkey to reap greater benefits from international trade‚ foreign direct investment‚ and infrastructure projects. From the perspective of Turkey‚ the presence in SEE countries’ markets contributes to increasing Turkey’s global competitiveness. This chapter offers a long-term analysis of the development of economic relations between Turkey and SEE countries by providing valuable statistics and insights that help analyze the main trends‚ identify issues‚ and shape future policy. Information contained in this chapter has been researched and studied from data sources believed to be accurate and reliable.

In Slovenia, group singing played an important role in times of political change and crisis. It was deliberately used in times of uncertainty, when there was a greater need for cohesion, such as during the First World War, the Second World War and the Covid-19 pandemic. The songs that were most widely used at a given time reflected the emotional needs and desires of people in precarious situations. With the advent of new technologies, new modalities of group singing, such as singing at a distance and virtual choirs were enabled. During the Covid-19 pandemic lock-down, group singing was realised via online tools, which has a number of limitations. Using three examples from times of uncertainty the specific characteristics of group singing that allow it to thrive in times of crisis are analysed.

This chapter analyses the relationship between political consumerism and political participation in Italy during the current phase of economic crisis. It investigates whether political consumerism is increasing or declining in times of economic crisis; whether it is an alternative to other forms of political participation in the current crisis, such as protest and/or voting; how ‘political’ political consumerism is in times of crisis; and whether there has been some shift in the composition of the Italian political consumerism community in times of economic crisis. The analysis shows that during the economic crisis the share of people who have chosen this form of participation in Italy has drastically increased. Furthermore, it illustrates how citizens who choose political consumerism as a form of political participation show a high level of politicisation according to all the indicators, and it points out that there has been a visible change in the relationship between political consumerism and political participation in Italy during the economic crisis, with the crisis changing the constituency of economic activism and incentivising the involvement of people that participate in politics in innovative ways. Our findings about the increasing relevance of political consumerism in a context of economic crisis suggest that this form of action cannot be understood as an eminently middle-class ethical gesture, but rather as a political choice, typical of contexts characterised by a significant salience of politics in the public debate.

This book, with its very attractive title, Italy and the Balkans. The History of a Proximity, may be considered a continuation, from a new perspective, of an old series inaugurated by the older generations of Italian scholars. I have in mind the studies of Carlo Battisti, a linguist to whom we are indebted for many profound analyses of the old cultures of the Mediterranean, not to mention many other studies and books written by various authors in Italy and elsewhere, including in those areas that are usually labeled the “Balkan countries.” Alberto Basciani has a most interesting book referring to the “difficult union,” that is, the complicated and tortuous situation of Bessarabia in the context of Romanian history. Egidio Ivetic is, of course, another such author, in this case the coauthor. Both are known as historians whose activity has been dedicated to the history of the Balkans and/or southeast Europe, the Adriatic zone, Italy, and Romania. With such references for the two authors, it is high time to examine their recent book.As indicated in the introduction, the two authors have divided their work in distinct chapters, without interfering with each other. Therefore, the introduction and the first two chapters have been written by Ivetic, whereas Chapters 3, 4, and 5 are written by Basciani. From the beginning, the old and inevitable links between Italy and the Balkans are explained; ultimately, Italy and the area of former Yugoslavia had been neighbors for millennia, and their cultures intermingled between the Slovenes and the Croatians, as it continues to do. On page 7, the reader is warned about the complex meanings of the Balkans, a region in which the authors also include Romania. But the Balkans are an “umbrella concept” (un concetto ombrello), a situation compared to that of Scandinavia, whereas ‘‘Italy is Italy’’ (p. 8). It is declared, in this context, that the analysis is based on a “aspetto determinante anche se non deterministico” (a decisive aspect even if not deterministic) and also on Geschichtsregion, a region that creates history (p. 9). The case of former Yugoslavia is also briefly mentioned in the final part of the Introduction. One first conclusion is that Italy represents the center of the Mediterranean (p. 12).The first chapter is an attempt toward defining the historical regions of Europe. It begins with a reference to Woodrow Wilson and Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (two outstanding pillars of the first decades of the twentieth century) and the situation after World War I, a period once characterized as the “New Europe.” It was a period defined by, on the one hand, the huge territory of the Soviet Union as it was developing after the revolution and, on the other hand, what is usually labeled “Western Europe.” The case of Yugoslavia could not be avoided, of course, for this period. Further, Romania (la grande Romania) and Hungary (amputata) were also integrated into a mental map of Europe. The author correctly notes that with the exception of Czechoslovakia, practically all the Balkan states and many other states located in Central and Southeast Europe (the Balkans proper, Romania, Hungary, etc.) had the clear tendency toward developing dictatorial regimes, some of them under the direct influence of Germany. It is the period when, mainly under the influence of German historians, the concept of Südosteuropa, as opposed to Mitteleuropa (Southeast Europe vs. Central Europe), was developing (p. 17ff.) The chapter develops other visions of Europe between the two world wars, but also after World War II, with a peculiar reference to Hungarian historian Jenő Szűcs’s Les Trois Europes (the three Europes) and then to the Yugoslav conflict of the early 1990s (p. 22ff.). The complex situation in Southeast Europe, in a larger context, in Ukraine and in other parts of another “new Europe,” is developed in the final part of Chapter 1 (p. 26ff.), with the (at least) interim conclusion that Italy and the Balkans are neighboring regions but entirely different (the epithet “diverse” is used, in fact, on p. 35).The second chapter (p. 37ff.) is dedicated to the problem already presented in the very title of the book: the historical proximity of Italy and the Balkans. The chapter begins with a reference to the year 1544, when Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia was published, again referring to Italy as the center of the Mediterranean. The chapter continues with ample historical references to the age of Carolus Magnus (Charlemagne) and even to previous centuries, the period of migrations, when the Slavs emerged in history as a distinct ethnic group (p. 39). References to the Islamic world, Spain, and other parts of Europe make up part of this chapter. The authors abruptly jump to the interwar period (p. 43ff.), to the Croatian nobility (p. 50), as well to various other historical periods analyzed in random order or without any order at all. This is, perhaps, the most unorganized part of the book.The last three chapters belong to the other author, Alberto Basciani. The third chapter begins with a direct reference to the Italian unification and the Balkans, from the year 1861 and onward. A new European state was emerging—or, if the reader allows, was re-emerging—after a tortuous medieval history. It was, in fact, a period when many European states were evolving from a complicated medieval and early modern history, and of course, these movements were welcomed with much sympathy, even if the Italian state, as noted by the author, was feeble, with its only power consisting of its demographic structure of twenty-two million inhabitants—a considerable figure for those times. Garibaldi’s name was already known, and he called for the independence of other European regions as well. The author also refers to the complex relations between Romanians and Hungarians (p. 58ff.). The fragility of the new Italian state is analyzed in a larger European context, as the coming decades witnessed complex evolutions, for example, the Congress in Berlin, which de facto canceled the recently concluded Treaty of San Stefano (p. 63). But as things went on, the foreign policy of the Italian state was developing a peculiar attention to the Balkans (p. 68), noting the ambitions of Bulgaria toward a Greater Bulgaria (p. 71). The final part of this chapter is dedicated to the prewar period, that is, the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, noting also the complex problems of Austria-Hungary and, again, the complex situation in Transylvania and Hungarian–Romanian relations. The Albanian question could not be avoided, of course (p. 74ff.).The last two chapters are dedicated to the very dynamic interwar period, followed by World War II and the Iron Curtain (p. 89ff.). The creation of Yugoslavia represented a major change because it included most South Slavic nations, as well as the pending relations between the Albanians, the Serbs, and the Italians, which represented a complicated issue even in the Serbian/Yugoslav–Italian relations (p. 93). The chapter refers to many unknown or lesser-known details of diplomatic contacts between Italy and the other countries of the region that were still in an unstable situation. The Treaty of Trianon reflected this complex situation, in which the old state of Poland was revived (p. 98). The creation of Yugoslavia (initially with a different name: the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croatians, and Slovenes), which included, as the name shows, ‘‘the country of the South Slavs,’’ or Yugo-Slavia (with several spellings, depending on the language in which this new name was adapted), was sent or felt as a trauma by the liberal leadership, with the contribution of Woodrow Wilson, a partisan of the South Slavic cause (p. 99–100). Some polemical considerations with “Anglo-Saxon historians” are also included (p. 101). In this context, a modus vivendi between Italy and Yugoslavia had to be identified (p. 105). Nevertheless, the rise of the Fascist movement, with its strong anti-Slavic feelings, which took place all over Europe, was a major impediment in finding a compromise and, in fact, was the premise of World War II (p. 107ff.) The final part of this chapter is dedicated to the rise of fascism in Italy and represents, perhaps, one of the best-written parts of the book.As expected, the fifth chapter is dedicated to the postwar period. The author finds that at the end of World War II, Italy was a completely defeated and humiliated country (p. 125). The author dedicates several pages to the relations with Yugoslavia, which represented the most important problem for Italy in those times. Issues included disputed territories, the extensive border region along the Adriatic, and of course, the rise of a Communist regime in Yugoslavia, as well as the rise of communism in all of the Slavic countries of the area and, by direct influence, in non-Slavic countries like Romania and Hungary. The social mentality had to solve the cruelty of the Italian occupation in parts of Yugoslavia (p. 127), which directly affected the fate of the Trieste (Trst; p. 128) and other territorial losses (from the perspective of Italy, pp. 131–132). The final part of this chapter and of the book is dedicated to the Cold War and very recent history. There are no general conclusions.The book is, beyond any doubt, a most interesting read—even if some parts seem unordered rather than following a plan, it is to show the reader how the actual history unfolded. The first two chapters (Ivetic) are seemingly less organized than the other three chapters (Basciani), with the final part being, if my perception is correct, clearer and better organized. All those wishing to learn more about the relations between Italy and the Balkans and, by and large, between Italy and other parts of Europe would benefit from reading this book. The book is mainly a view on political and diplomatic issues, rather than the social aspects of these relations; therefore, its target group is mainly historians and politicians, specifically, those interested in the political conflicts in Europe in the area under scrutiny (Italy and the Balkans). Some considerations are (very) debatable, but they ultimately represent the charm of the book, not necessarily a flaw.

In this paper, we examine the proposition that Canada’s economic relationship with Asia has languished, or at least has not lived up to its potential. To do so, we draw on the conventional gravity model of international trade and investment and take advantage of the similarity between Canada and Australia in most of the elements that have been found to impact on the direction of trade in the gravity modeling literature. We argue that, when we take the ratio of Canada’s trade flows with Asian markets to Australia’s flows, the influence of the various other factors cancels out, leaving only the distance to Asian markets, the relative size of the Canadian economy to Australia’s and the relative degree of remoteness to third markets as the determinants of relative trade performance. Inspection of Australia’s and Canada’s trade data with Asian markets shows that Australia’s goods export advantage is heavily concentrated in a handful of commodities. Both Canada and Australia are major world exporters of ores and other mined products, mineral fuel and precious metals (HS 25-27 and 71), which we refer to as “mined commodities”. In Canada’s case, virtually none of these exports goes to Asia whereas in Australia’s case virtually all of them do. We show that, when we exclude these products from the analysis, the picture in respect of goods trade which Canada does contest with Australia generally falls into line with what one would expect given economic size and distance factors. We infer from this empirical regularity that excluding mined products from the comparison largely corrects for the difference in relative remoteness. For services, we make no adjustment for remoteness and allow the data to speak for themselves as to whether this represents an important determinant in the relative size of trade flows. We construct a wide range of scenarios based on alternative measures of distance, alternative estimates from the economic literature of the elasticities of economic size and distance, and by allowing for annual variation in economic size versus using period averages. We report the ratio of actual to expected levels of trade based on the mean across all the scenarios, under the assumption set that sets the lowest bar for Canada to match or better Australia’s performance, and under the assumption set that sets the highest bar. By far the most important factor in establishing the expected level of trade for Canada is the distance elasticity. As regards the assessment of Canada’s relative performance, we give greater weight to export performance since this is the side of the two-way trade activity that is of primary policy focus for governments. On this basis, we find that Canada gets a “B” in its trade in goods and services with China plus Hong Kong (taken as one trading entity), Japan and India. Canada manages only a borderline “C ” in Korea and a “C” in trade with the ASEAN 6.

The article highlights the essence of digital transformations in the economic sector, which in recent years have significantly increased their potential, turning into a determining factor in the strategizing and development of industries and areas of production, service, management, etc. It is summarized that the development of the economy under the influence of digitalization processes involves the construction of socio-economic relations, which is aimed at increasing the efficiency and competitiveness of production and capital and finds its manifestations in the newest development paradigm, in which the increase of competitiveness and efficiency becomes relevant and necessary. the sphere of economic relations reflects the specifics of production and the application of new technologies based on the use of a large amount of data and technologies, which allows creating qualitatively new models of business, trade, logistics, and production. A new form of financial and economic relations arising in the conditions of integration of real and virtual space is the movement of digital financial instruments. Virtual assets are an integral part of the digital economy, opening up new opportunities and prospects for society. Their development and integration into stable economic systems shapes the future of financial and commercial relations. However, to fully realize their potential, existing challenges need to be explored while ensuring sustainable and safe use of these technologies. Virtual assets are one of the significant monetary instruments in the new paradigm of financial development of society, which blur the boundaries between the segments of the financial and nonfinancial services markets. The evolution of virtual assets and digital money is objectively determined by the evolution of information technology and computer technology, which led to the expansion of the scope of their application and methods of distribution. The key principle of circulation of virtual assets is their decentralization, based exclusively on market mechanisms. The implementation of the circulation of virtual assets based on the use of digital technologies affects the efficiency and effectiveness of the functioning of the financial system of any country.

Immediately following the armistice that ended the World War I in the Middle East, a small group of “Young Turk” leaders, who had led the war-time ruling party of the Committee of Union and Progress in the Ottoman Empire, fled into a self-imposed exile in Germany. Although they were wanted internationally as war-criminals and they were practically stateless statesmen without any material resources, they managed to remain all the more relevant for their political exile as rogue revolutionaries. The partition of the Ottoman Empire and the colonial occupation of the Muslim lands caused revolts and protest throughout the Muslim world. After secret meetings in Berlin, they founded in Moscow the Union of Muslim Revolutionary Societies (Islam Ihtilal Cemiyetleri Ittihadi). The aim of this self-proclaimed “Islamic International” was to mobilize and unite Muslim-nationalist insurgencies against European colonialism. The dissertation tells the story of the rise and fall of the Union of Muslim Revolutionary Societies during the aftermath of World War I, 1918–1922. The dissertation makes three interlinked arguments. First, as a transnational political history, the dissertation argues that this political movement needs to be embedded within the global moments of anticolonialism, internationalism, and revanchism of the immediate postwar years. In a fascinating network, the fugitive Young Turk leaders aligned with German revanchists, Russian Bolsheviks, Turkish Kemalists, the Afghan Emirate, Arab and Egyptian nationalists, and Indian and Irish revolutionaries as well as the League of Oppressed Peoples in Rome. Second, by critically drawing attention to the organizational incapacity of this movement, the dissertation argues that dialectic processes of sense-making, including rumors and conspiracy theories, helped this movement to appear as an elusive force in international politics with more conspiratorial capacities than it actually possessed. Third, in explaining the dynamics of transnational contentious politics in international relations, the dissertation argues that the Young Turk leaders, as revolutionary non-state actors, were increasingly isolated and persecuted by revolutionary state actors. Towards the settlement of international relations in 1922, they had lost their available space of action. Based on a vast collection of published and unpublished private papers of the Young Turk leaders as well as memoirs, diaries, newspapers, and state documents from various German, Swiss, French, British, Russian, and Turkish archives, the dissertation illustrates an important episode of the aftermath of World War I that shows the intricacies of transnational contentious politics and the epistemological ruptures that followed the end of the Ottoman Empire.

Economic conflicts among military allies may undermine their strategic alignment. Economic disputes in a wide range of areas – from weapons procurement to international trade to access to natural resources – go back to the very beginning of NATO. In recognition of these challenges, Article 2 of the NATO treaty calls upon the member states to ‘eliminate conflict in their … economic policies’. Examining the causes of such conflicts and efforts to resolve them hold the promise of yielding policy-relevant insights for contemporary public officials and defence strategists as they navigate the current geopolitical environment, including ‘de-risking’ economic relations with a more assertive China. One ally may need to make ‘side-payments’ to others in order to maintain strategic alignment on key security issues.

Central Europe, Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Southeast Europe as macro- region space concepts are not regions designable by physical geography; the geographical content of these concepts is drawn and re-drawn by historical, cultural and geopolitical processes. Debates on the extension and content of the macro-regions featured intensify every now and then, especially in crisis periods - it is enough to think of the years before, during and after the world wars, the regime change, and these days. Our paper, with the brief summary of the preliminaries, highlights, from the perspective of our age, the geopolitically determined transformation and demonstrates the findings of our empirical research. During our research we made a questionnaire survey in which we recorded mental maps of the university students of Hungary and its seven neighbour countries, looking at where the respondents put their own countries and what image of the respective macro-regions lived in their minds. Our findings may be subject to debates but clearly show the convergent or divergent directions of the respective countries, at least as regards the judgement by the youth.

This article examines the process through which the Aluminium Company of Canada (Alcan) obtained information regarding the Greenlandic cryolite industry during World War 2 in order to explore the ways in which distance affects the circulation of environmental knowledge for resource extraction in times of crisis. It argues that the war forced Alcan to radically alter its means of acquiring information about the Greenlandic operations. The information eventually acquired about the nature of the cryolite mine revealed the environmental and logistical challenges of doing business in the Arctic, and encouraged the company to seek synthetic alternatives to the scarce natural resource it obtained from the region.