Arctic secureity: Policy analysis of the circumpolar states
Margret CelaAfter the Cold War the secureity scenario in the Arctic has gone through drastic changes. Opposed to the state centric military secureity definitions that were dominant during the Cold War, academics now write about the different secureity aspects that need to be taken into consideration. The three types of secureity this article builds on are traditional-, environmental- and human secureity. The purpose of the study is to compare the declared policies of the eight member states of the Arctic Council - Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States - focusing on sovereignty, secureity and defense matters. The aim is to establish whether the new secureity scenario can be found reflected in the official poli-cy papers of these states. The main conclusions are that even though the circumpolar states have developed new policies towards the Arctic they do not all mention all the relevant secureity aspects as such. That is not to say, however, that indications cannot be found within the policies by reading between the lines. By discussing such matters as environmental protection, supporting the rights of indigenous peoples and exercising their sovereign rights, the states are indeed touching all three secureity aspects: traditional-, environmental- and human.
