Britain and the Arctic

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. Introduction: Britain and the Arctic

   • Duncan Depledge

   Pages 1-12

3. Britain: The Forgotten Arctic State?

   • Duncan Depledge

   Pages 13-34

4. The Circumpolar Arctic

   • Duncan Depledge

   Pages 35-61

5. Britain in the Arctic Today

   • Duncan Depledge

   Pages 63-99

6. To Strategise in the Arctic, or Not?

   • Duncan Depledge

   Pages 101-122

7. Conclusions

   • Duncan Depledge

   Pages 123-134

8. Back Matter

   Pages 135-142

   PDF

British interest in the Arctic has returned to heights not seen since the end of the Cold War; concerns about climate change, resources, trade, and national security are all impacted by profound environmental and geopolitical changes happening in the Arctic. Duncan Depledge investigates the increasing geopolitical significance of the Arctic and explores why it took until now for Britain – once an ‘Arctic state’ itself – to notice how close it is to these changes, what its contemporary interests in the region are, and whether the British government’s response in the arenas of science, defence, and commerce is enough. This book will be of interest to both academics and practitioners seeking to understand contemporary British interest and activity in the Arctic.  

• Arctic Studies
• Geopolitics
• International Relations
• Foreign Policy
• Polar Geography
• Global Arctic
• circumpolarisation
• Britain and the Arctic
• Arctic history
• Arctic geopolitics
• climate change and the Arctic
• Arctic Policy Framework
• peripheralization
• area studies

“The global gaze is hardening on the Arctic. Climate change is transforming the region, sovereignty issues and resource development are provoking geopolitical debate on its future, and indigenous peoples are asserting their rights and demanding greater involvement in decisions that affect their lives and lands. Meanwhile, a number of non-Arctic states are shaping their own approaches to the high latitudes. Depledge traces Britain’s efforts to establish its own role in the Arctic; history, science, trade, conservation and national security are entangled with narratives about claims for a powerful presence in northern affairs. Erudite, incisive and original, this book is a vital contribution to scholarship on the contemporary Arctic and to our understanding of how the region is being redefined and contested by an array of interests.” (Mark Nuttall, Professor and Henry Marshall Tory Chair, University of Alberta, Canada)

“This thought-provoking book considers the power-geometries of theArctic Council and the exclusionary politics through which Arctic states attempt to deprive non-Arctic states of a say in regional affairs. Britain is the illustrative case, but the analysis is universally valid and applicable to other states as well. This makes the book a most important contribution also in the looming debate on how to improve on the legitimacy of Arctic decision-making in the future. For scholars and policy makers - Arctic and non-Arctic - this book is a MUST read.” (Willy Østreng, President of the Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research, 2012-2017)

“The idea that Britain is a ‘forgotten’ Arctic state surprises at first, but Depledge’s explanation – close connections between the English and the Norsemen in the Viking Age, English fleets searching for northern sea routes to Asia, mass-scale whaling off Svalbard, Canadian Arctic territories under British rule, radioactive waste from Sellafield in the Barents Sea, the presence of British submarines in the Arctic Ocean, British funding of Arctic research – makes clear Britain’s past and present proximity to the region.” (Lassi Heininen, Professor and Leader of the Thematic Network on Geopolitics and Security and co-founder of the GlobalArctic Project, University of Lapland)

• Fleet, United Kingdom

  Duncan Depledge

Duncan Depledge is the director of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Polar Regions Secretariat in Westminster. He previously held an academic position at Royal Holloway, University of London. 

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