The Arctic Council’s (AC) openness to the outside world has become an increasingly important issue in the current debate on its shape and place in the Arctic governance structure. The growing interest of states such as China and entities like the European Union in obtaining Observer status on the Council, and the search for an enhanced role by existing Observers, has triggered an emotional debate ...

In coastal north Norway the Saami people have lived in a close relationship with Norwegians or Norse people for a thousand years or more. This relationship has been articulated in various ways over the centuries, and this article argues that in parts of the region it took a rather intimate form based on the shared exploitation of the dominant marine and terrestrial niches, a common class position ...

Since the end of the Cold War, a flourishing network of collaboration has grown up between Russia and neighbouring Nordic countries in the European North, especially Norway. The Barents Euro-Arctic Region (BEAR) was established in 1993 by several North European states and regional administrative entities in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Its aim is to promote relations across the old East-Westdivide ...

Denne artikkelen oppsummerer resultatene av et samarbeidsprosjekt der arkeologisk materiale fra tre lokaliteter i Báhceveaj/Pasvikdalen i Øst-Finnmark er sammenholdt med nye pollenanalyser fra myrer ved de samme lokalitetene (figur 1). Det har ikke vært vanlig å inkludere botaniske analyser i arkeologiske undersøkelser i Nord-Norge, selv om det nå finnes stadig flere eksempler på at det gjøres. ...

This article discusses what role(s) member governments want the Arctic Council to have in Arctic affairs. It compares the foreign policies of the five littoral states of the Arctic Ocean: Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the United States. It identifies and examines three determining debates on a ministerial level over the Arctic Council and the issues it might address: The first debate preceded ...

This article raises three main questions: (i) What characterizes the EEC/EU's relationship to the Arctic? (ii) What issues/areas have caused problems for the EU in becoming a more relevant actor in the Arctic? (iii) To what degree has Norway been able to exert influence on the Union's ongoing Arctic policy development? By chronologically reviewing the EEC/EU's relationship to the Arctic the article ...

This report, which summarizes some of the key results of the research and analysis conducted during the CIMIC Requirements and Education in Norway (CREN) project at the University of Tromsø, wishes to contribute to opening a dialogue on Norway’s approach to civil-military interaction. The CREN project has also resulted in a soon-to-be-published book which goes into greater detail regarding the ...