This session, part of the Ninth International Congress on Arctic Social Sciences, will highlight the many diverse peoples and places of the Arctic through a debate on the many dimensions of Arctic security. Although current discussions on Northern security focus heavily on defense and energy, the complex challenges of the circumpolar region today require a more comprehensive dialogue inclusive of the different types of security, their interactions, and their challenges. This session therefore intends to move the discourse of polar security beyond – but not excluding – the conventional debates of military capabilities and state sovereignty towards a more comprehensive definition of security, including its interacting environmental, economic, political, health, and cultural dimensions. The session aims to increase understanding across cultural and national borders by creating an in-depth discussion of current security developments and their potential implications for ensuring peace in the Arctic.
The impetus for this session is the publication of a special issue of the peer-reviewed journal POLITIK in September 2017 on ‘Arctic International Relations in a Widened Security Perspective’. The special issue, edited by the Arctic Institute, brings together young and established researchers from several Arctic states to provide multifaceted and multinational perspectives on the security developments in the Arctic research. The ICASS session will consist of presentations by these authors, while other participants will be invited via an open call.
If you are interested in presenting at this session, please submit your proposed abstract here.
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