John Mearsheimer is an American international relations theorist whose work focusses on security issues, with a particular emphasis on the interaction between great powers. He is known for his analyses of international political rhetoric that seek to explain why states behave as they do. His most controversial viewpoint, which he will present at MatchPoints, is that the West itself bears considerable responsibility for precipitating the current crisis with Russia regarding Ukraine. In addition, he argues, the West’s response to the crisis – sanctions and increased military pressure on Russia – only serve to make a bad situation worse. He is convinced that this conflict will make it difficult to ensure Russian cooperation in a variety of areas, including the Arctic.
Rob Huebert is a Canadian expert in international relations whose research interests include security in the Arctic and Canadian defence policies. At MatchPoints, Rob Huebert will address the uncertainty that has surrounded circumpolar relations and prospects for the future. Is the Arctic a unique example of a geopolitical region characterised by international peace and security? Or does the Arctic face the same geopolitical realities confronting other regions of the world?
Alexander Sergunin is an expert in the relationship between Russia and the EU: At MatchPoints, Sergunin will address Russia’s role and interests in the Arctic collaboration. According to Sergunin, there are two main groups in Russia with regard to their approach to Russia’s engagement in the Arctic. One faction – the optimists – believe that the Artic will play a crucial strategic role for the country in future. This group is open to international collaboration. The other faction – the pessimists – believe that the Arctic is an expensive and unsustainable venture for Russia. According to this group, Russia should maintain a purely military strategic interest in the region. They are wary of multilateral cooperation.
Joh Rahbek-Clemmensen is a Danish researcher whose field is defence and security policy in the Arctic region. His work explores how the Arctic is affected by the relationships among the great powers (the United States, Russia, China and the EU), as well as Denmark’s role in the Arctic. His most recent work concerns the effects of the Ukraine crisis on the Arctic Council’s attempts to introduce necessary reforms and the challenges that have faced the United States since assuming the chairmanship of the council in April 2015. His assessment is that the Ukraine crisis is making member states less likely to cooperate in the council. He will be debating this issue at MatchPoints.
Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen is a Danish researcher who specialises in Sino-Nordic relations. A major research focus is science diplomacy, which concerns the role played by science in relation to political, economic and transnational relations. In a Danish context, this is a new way of perceiving Arctic relations. Bertelsen’s work explores the role of science diplomacy in Sino-Nordic relations in the Artic. His works suggests that the Arctic states use research collaboration to integrate China into Arctic affairs, while China uses Arctic research to build a non-threatening presence in the region.
Rear Admiral Nils Wang (Denmark) has served in Greenland, the Baltic and the Persian Gulf. For Wang, downplaying the potential for conflict in the Arctic is fundamental, which is his primary focus at MatchPoints. According to Wang, there are at present a number of indications that the Arctic region is developing in a peaceful direction, and there are relatively few sources of conflict in relation to rights to the Arctic seabed. The risk of potential conflict in the Arctic is exclusively dependent on influences from other regions.
Canadian researcher Michael Byer’s work focuses on issues of Arctic sovereignty, climate change, the law of the sea and Canadian foreign and defence policy. He is the author of the bestselling Intent for a Nation and, most recently, Who Owns the Arctic? At MatchPoints 2015, he will discuss Russia’s role in Arctic collaboration and the extent to which we can trust that Russia will behave differently in the North than in the South. According to Byers, history teaches us that we can. Another interesting angle on this issue is whether Arctic collaboration might contribute to reducing political tensions elsewhere in the world.
Interest in extracting natural resources from the Arctic seabed is increasing. For this reason, international and national environmental legislation has an important role to play in protecting the marine environment as much as possible. The majority of Arctic waters are currently governed by the laws of the Arctic coastal states. In practice, this legislation is a patchwork of international and regional conventions. Not all Arctic states are signatories of the various conventions. This means that there is a risk of a silo mentality and that the individual states will act to promote their own interests. Professor Ellen Margrethe Basse (Department of Law, Aarhus BSS and affiliated with AU’s Arctic Research Centre) is a Danish researcher who work explores the role of the EU in protecting the marine environment in the Arctic. At MatchPoints, Basse will both participate in a panel debate and conduct a workshop together with Assistant Professor Cecile Pelaudeix (Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University). Pelaudeix and Basse are currently completing a book on the offshore extraction of oil and gas in the Arctic which contains contributions from all of the Arctic states. At the workshop, Basse will draw on the book to argue that the EU is in a position to play a central role thanks to its own environmental legislation, which increases the level of protection of the environment in connection with offshore activities. In this way, the EU can contribute to raising the standard in the Arctic.
Danish researcher Søren Rysgaard is one of the world’s leading experts on marine ecosystems in the Arctic. He has profound insight into issues of climate and environment and ha done particularly extensive research on sea ice and climate change. He has also worked on the links between increased pollution in the Arctic and the new conditions that emerge as the ice continues to melt in Arctic waters. He can provide an overview of the challenges that are emerging at the intersection of development and the preservation of a healthy marine environment. For example, Rysgaard can explain why oil spills in cold climates cause greater damage than in other parts of the world and the specific hazards associated with sea ice. Rysgaard knows the Arctic from the inside. He lives and works in Canada and Greenland for a large part of the year, and has been the driving force behind the development of an international Arctic research group based at Aarhus University, where he today heads the Arctic Research Centre and the university’s research stations in Greenland.
Danish researcher Anders Mosbech is an expert on Greenlandic ecosystems and the dilemmas that are growing as the region becomes increasingly industrialised. The Arctic is often described as a fragile environment. But as Mosbech points out, this is a complex issue, and he recommends that we exploit our detailed knowledge about the ecosystems and wildlife to plan and regulate development in a more intelligent way. Mosbech has analysed the consequences and effects on wildlife of phenomena such as underwater noise pollution, oil exploration and mining, and his research is used by the Government of Greenland in connection with environmental assessments and planning industrial initiatives. At MatchPoints, Mosbech will discuss potential problems facing the environment and wildlife in the Arctic.
Greenlandic Geologist Minik Rosing is an expert on the terrestrial processes behind the formation of the continents as well as the relationship between life, environment and climate. He is also concerned with the exploitation of natural resources and its consequences for contemporary Greenlandic society. According to Rosing, the influence of man on the environment is more visible in the Arctic than anywhere else on Earth, and that this might hold the key to solving some of the global challenges facing the world today, including food insecurity, a lack of clean energy and pollution. At MatchPoints, he will discuss issues such as tensions and contradictions between the environment and human security, as well as the need for social and economic development in the region.
The rapid climate change currently taking place in the Arctic has already had serious consequences for Arctic ecosystems. New research by Danish researchers documents that these changes are causing physical changes in the fauna of the High Arctic. The study shows that increasing temperatures are causing some butterfly species in the High Arctic to shrink. Researchers from Aarhus University measured the wing length of two species of Artic butterflies over two decades at the Zackenberg Research Station in Northeast Greenland. This is one of very few field studies that has measured changes in body size of the same species over a longer period of climatic change. Senior Researcher Toke T. Høye from Aarhus University headed the research project, which provides clear indications that climate change represents a challenge to biodiversity in the Arctic. He will participate in a workshop at MatchPoints on Friday.
The Greenland Ice Sheet is considered a mirror of the climatic changes that affect the entire globe. The entire ice sheet is currently monitored by satellite. However, satellite data is only available as far back as the 70s, when the first satellites were launched. This is insufficient data for reliable climate models to be developed. Danish researchers have contributed to new methods, and Associate Professor Nicolaj Krog Larsen can provide information on this research and explain how scientists can use it to model the effects of global warming on the Greenland Ice Sheet.
During the Cold War, Greenland became a geopolitical hotspot because of its location between the Arctic territories of the two superpowers. The United States launched an intensive geophysical survey of the country in order to establish a strategic power position in the Arctic – with or without the approval of the Danish government. Ironically, the environmental research that began to develop in the late 60s drew heavily on this military research initiative. Associate Professor Kristian Hvidtfeldt Nielsen can provide insight into the history of geophysical research on Greenland with a special focus on the post-WWII period, when the Danish government found itself involved in a Cold War power struggle between the US and the Soviet Union – with Greenland as the stakes in the game.
The zero-tolerance policy on mining radioactive material in Greenland is currently the subject of hot debate, as it represents a potential barrier to major mining projects and to the extraction of uranium. The Australian company Greenland Mineral and Energy’s Kvanefjeld project has been at the centre of this debate in recent years. The zero-tolerance policy is a complex issue with a long history, for example secret attempts to locate uranium reserves in Greenland during and after WWII, a Danish prestige project at Kvanefjeld in the 50s and 60s and the growing criticism of uranium extraction in Greenland in the 70s and 80s. Emeritus Professor Henry Nielsen (Centre for Science Studies, Aarhus University) is an excellent communicator with a deep understanding of the political issues surrounding the zero-tolerance policy, both historically and at the present time. He is also the author of a new book in the subject which is set for publication in the spring of 2016.
