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Celebrating 20 Years of the Arctic Council

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By David Balton, Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials, Ambassador for Oceans and Fisheries, US Department of State

The Arctic region is receiving unprecedented attention. Although the region is both politically stable and peaceful, the nations and peoples of the Arctic today confront extraordinary challenges and opportunities, driven largely – though not exclusively – by a warming climate.

In these circumstances the Arctic Council has emerged as the premier forum in which the governments of the eight Arctic states, in partnership with six permanent participants that represent the indigenous peoples of the Arctic, strive together to understand, respond to and prepare for a quickly changing Arctic.

As the Arctic Council celebrates its 20th anniversary, we have already witnessed a remarkable evolution in its stature and reach. The Council has produced cuttingedge analyses to inform decisions at many levels. Its six standing working groups have completed a breathtaking range of projects and programs of direct benefit to Arctic residents and institutions. The Council has also established a permanent secretariat in Tromsø, Norway and has built – or is building – lasting partnerships with an impressive array of other bodies, including the newly established Arctic Economic Council.

In addition, the Council has served as a forum for the negotiation of two binding international agreements among the Arctic states on search and rescue, and marine oil pollution preparedness and response, and is likely to produce a third such agreement on scientific cooperation by 2017. The Council has thus contributed to a growing set of rules and norms for governing the Arctic.

The evolution of the Arctic Council has, in turn, raised questions about  how it mayshaping capacity to address the new and emerging issues of the Arctic region? Are the structure and the procedures of the Arctic Council adequate to take on an expanding agenda? Does the Arctic Council have sufficient, predictable financing to carry out its growing mission? Will the Arctic Council’s permanent participants have the capacity to serve as true partners in the myriad activities? How can the Arctic Council best engage with its large and varied group of accredited observers?

As the current chair of the Senior Arctic Officials, I hope to guide the exceptional group of people who constitute the Arctic Council community toward answers to at least some of these questions before the end of the US chairmanship in 2017. By the time the Arctic Council gavel passes to Finland, I would like to be able to say that the United States fulfilled its ambition to strengthen the forum itself.

Table of Contents

  1. Letter from the Editor in Chief

    By Outi Snellman

  2. 20 Years of Peaceful Cooperation

    By Børge Brende

  3. International Cooperation for Arctic Prosperity

    By Sergey Lavrov

  4. Minister Greetings: Finland

    By Timo Soini

  5. Minister Greetings: Iceland

    By Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson

  6. Setting the Stage for Arctic Cooperation

    By Eirik Sivertsen

  7. It All Started in Rovaniemi

    By Markku Heikkilä

  8. Interview with Mary Simon

    By Stig Brøndbo

  9. Interview with Thorvald Stoltenberg

    By Stig Brøndbo

  10. Interview with Alona Yefimenko

    By Stig Brøndbo

  11. Interview with Sheila Watt-Cloutier

    By Stig Brøndbo

  12. The Role of the Working Groups in the Work of the Arctic Council

    By David Stone and Lars-Otto Reiersen

  13. Science to Policy: Arctic Biodiversity Assessment

    By Tom Barry and Courtney Price

  14. The Arctic Council: A Model for Cooperation

    By Timo Koivurova

  15. The Arctic Council: A Victory for Soft Law & Soft Security

    By Heather Exner-Pirot

  16. The Arctic Council: Maintaining Peace Through Cooperation

    By Michael Byers

  17. Arctic Human Development

    By Joan Nymand Larsen and Gail Fondahl

  18. Towards Revival of Arctic Cooperation

    By Olli Rehn

  19. The Arctic Economic Council: Connecting with the Business Community

    By Tara Sweeney

  20. Love & Peace

    By Else Berit Eikeland and Gunn-Britt Retter

  21. Working Inside the Arctic Council: Arctic Change and World Reindeer Herders

    By Mikhail Pogodaev and Anders Oskal

  22. Observer States in the Arctic Council: A Way Forward to Better Cooperation

    By Justin Kim

  23. The Arctic: A Place for the Miraculous

    By Chen Yitong

  24. The Arctic Council Adapting to the Future

    By Arild Moe, Svein Vigeland Rottem and Olav Schram Stokke

  25. The Way Forward for the Arctic Council

    By Oran R. Young

  26. Student Profiles

    By students from Arctic states

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