The (Arctic) Show Must Go On

Abstract

With climate change radically transforming the geopolitics at the top of the world, the Arctic has entered the global limelight, and the media periodically put issues front and centre. This interest, it was said some years ago, was novel - a product of the rapid melting of the Arctic icecap, the uncovering of resources, and the opening of the Arctic waters. And yet media and scholars keep conveying more or less the same information and address the same issues year after year. Every so often, a great deal of words and ink flow on the hand depict the rising tensions between Arctic nations, and on the other debunk what many now call the myth of a new cold war.With the rapid melting of the Arctic icecap, great confusion has arisen with regard the politics of the north. A plethora of statements has been provided by political actors and the media the effect that the north is rapidly becoming a battleground - an issue many believe be directly linked the resource craze - as the result of an assumed vast, even fabulous, amount of resources buried there. The notion that the Arctic is a potential battleground seems at times have detracted from the numerous diplomatic efforts and the rather well-developed cooperation among the Arctic nations.The contradictory messages targeting national audiences may have achieved their objective of bringing the Arctic the attention of Canadians and the top of their country's foreign But in the surfacing of a nationalistic sentiment of nordicity,1 citizens may have lost track of the real challenges brought about by resource development in the north, of what kind of resources hide in the circumpolar region, and how issues are currently being managed, politically and legally, beyond the great diplomatic showdown. This article aims clear the confusion over resources exploitation in the Arctic region and explores how this dimension of the Arctic has been integrated into the political discourse.NATURAL RESOURCES: THE GREAT OPPORTUNITYIn 2000, the Canadian government released a policy paper on the northern dimension of Canada's foreign policy. Among the objectives pursued by the policy was to enhance the security and prosperity of Canadians. After stressing the sense of northernness as a central aspect of Canadian identity, the policy asserts that [Canadian] future security and prosperity are closely linked with our ability manage complex issues.2In July 2009, Chris Neider asked in Business Insider, How much oil is in the Arctic?3 Numbers have been put before investors, politicians, and academics, often accompanied by a waterfall of words referring a hypothetical yet impressive amount of resources lying beneath the seabed. The amount and quality of resources is highly uncertain and the numbers change from year year. The amount of resources remains hypothetical, although it is enthusiastically propounded in speeches.In 2009, a study conducted by the United States Geological Survey confirmed that the Arctic holds an important resource potential. The Arctic is estimated hold 30 percent of the world's undiscovered gas and 13 percent of the world's undiscovered ou. Geological Survey scientists explain that these estimates were arrived at using a probabilistic geologybased methodology. The Arctic continental shelves are assessed as one of the world's largest remaining prospective areas. The authors of the study insist that undiscovered natural gas is largely concentrated in Russia and hence does not fall within a contested region.4 Though the numbers are impressive, the authors doubt that a major shift in oil and gas production is likely occur. Frederic Lasserre argues that no more than five percent of the resources are be found outside of the exclusive economic zones already under the control of or another Arctic state. …