Territorial nationalism and Arctic geopolitics: Iceland as an Arctic coastal state
This paper explores the cultural and political significance of being acknowledged and recognized as an “Arctic coastal state”. Using Iceland as a case study, we consider how coastal state status had grown in significance as the Arctic Ocean has been re-imagined more as a polar Mediterranean and less as a frozen desert. By drawing on Michael Billig’s work on banal nationalism and popular geopolitics, the manner in which the ideas and practices associated with a “coastal state” are reproduced in elite and everyday contexts. However, we conclude by noting that thus far this appeal to Iceland as “coastal state” has gained greater traction within the Icelandic Foreign Ministry and Parliament, and it remains to be seen whether it will have a more popular resonance with Icelandic citizens. Whatever the future, it is a timely reminder that terms such as “coastal state” are caught up in national and even circumpolar identity projects.
The Future History of the Arctic
Long at the margins of global affairs and at the edge of our mental map of the world, the Arctic has found its way to the center of the issues which will challenge and define our world in the twenty-first century: energy security and the struggle for natural resources, climate change and its uncertain speed and consequences, the return of great power competition, the remaking of global trade patterns...In The Future History of the Arctic, geopolitics expert Charles Emmerson weaves together the history of the region with reportage and reflection, revealing a vast and complex area of the globe, loaded with opportunity and rich in challenges. He defines the forces which have shaped the Arctics history and introduces the players in politics, business, science and society who are struggling to mold its future. The Arctic is coming of age. This engrossing book tells the story of how that is happening and how it might happenthrough the stories of those who live there, those who study it, and those who will determine its destiny.
Checkerboards and Shatterbelts: The Geopolitics of South America
Preface 1. Geopolitical Definitions, Characteristics, and Theories 2. The Geopolitics of South America 3. An Inventory of Sixteen South American Writers 4. The Regional Geopolitics of South America 5. A Geopolitical Description of the Americas 6. U.S.-South American Geopolitics 7. A Summary and Forecast of South American Geopolitics Bibliography Index