{"id":1143,"date":"2023-12-03T04:17:44","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T04:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/arctic-relations\/?p=1143"},"modified":"2023-12-03T04:17:44","modified_gmt":"2023-12-03T04:17:44","slug":"impressions-from-our-qualitative-expert-interviews-on-changing-political-priorities-in-the-arctic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/arctic-relations\/impressions-from-our-qualitative-expert-interviews-on-changing-political-priorities-in-the-arctic\/","title":{"rendered":"Impressions from our qualitative expert interviews on changing political priorities in the Arctic"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jakob Schw\u00f6rer, Jan Phillip Ronde & Christoph Humrich<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

At the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Nordic Countries, we have recently launched a program of research and events on progressive politics of the Arctic. As part of our forthcoming study on the changing priorities of states in the Arctic, our team conducted 19 qualitative interviews at the Arctic Circle Assembly<\/a> in Reykjavik. We engaged with experts (think tank and university scholars, local politicians and mayors, mostly from Arctic countries) on security, climate, economic, and Indigenous issues. In this blog, we share initial impressions from these interviews and explore shifts in the salience of security, economic, community, and environmental issues since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

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Security<\/strong><\/p>\n

The invasion of Ukraine has heightened security concerns in most states engaged in the Arctic. Respondents describe an increase in military budgets, surveillance, exercises, and infrastructure, especially in northern Fennoscandia<\/a> (mainly the mainlands of Finland, Norway and Sweden). While the states\u2019 interests (e.g. US and Canada) in Arctic security predated the war, consensus holds that the invasion has accelerated them. Nonetheless, the prospect of direct military conflict in the Arctic is widely dismissed. Some argue that rising tensions stem less from the Arctic and more from NATO-Russia and US-China relations at the international level. Most interviewees feel that pivotal issues like climate change and Indigenous rights are being overshadowed by the security dimension, despite being deemed more important.<\/p>\n

However, some respondents believe that the risk of military incidents in the Arctic has increased since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Hybrid warfare from Russia and misinterpretation of military activities are occasionally seen as an increasing challenge. An intensified military presence of NATO is not seen as helpful.<\/p>\n