Polar Geopolitics - Arctic and Antarctic analysis

Mar 07 2025 71 ep. 36 mins 858

Polar Geopolitics - Arctic and Antarctic analysis Podcast artwork

A podcast on the Arctic and Antarctica

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Future of the Arctic Council: Nuuk, Copenhagen and the upcoming Kingdom of Denmark chairship with Greenland in the lead

Mar 07 2025 47 mins

In May, the Kingdom of Denmark takes over from Norway chairship of an Arctic Council that continues to face an array of significant challenges in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other geopolitical developments. At the same time, there has also been uncertainty on whether the center of gravity of the Kingdom’s chairship will be in Copenhagen or in the Greenlandic ca

Future of the Arctic Council: Science diplomacy, Arctic exceptionalism and innovative governance in a time of geopolitical turbulence

Feb 26 2025 48 mins

Two Arctic Council insiders discuss the unique qualities and key role the Council continues to play even after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cast it into crisis three years ago. Jennifer Spence, Director of the Arctic Initiative at Harvard’s Belfer Center, and Rolf Rødven, Executive Secretary of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, sat down with Polar Geopolitics at th

Global gaze on Greenland: Analyzing upcoming elections, security situation and relations with the United States, Denmark, China and the E.U.

Feb 20 2025 71 mins

In the midst of intense international interest in Greenland, general elections have been called for March 11th, with potential geopolitical implications across a range of issues, including independence from the Kingdom of Denmark. To explain the stakes and dynamics of the upcoming election, and analyze regional security in the context of U.S. interest in acquiring Greenland, joinin

Greenland’s Future in the Face of Trump’s Advances: Crisis in the Kingdom of Denmark

Jan 19 2025 33 mins

Independence or an American acquisition of Greenland would fracture the Kingdom of Denmark as currently constituted. On this episode, associate professor Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, research director at the Center for Arctic Security Studies at the Royal Danish Defence College, explains how and why Copenhagen intends to keep the Kingdom intact, while also accommodating the interests of

Greenland gambit 2.0: Arctic Geopolitics and Donald Trump’s Geographical Imagination, with Prof. Klaus Dodds

Jan 15 2025 43 mins

An in-depth discussion with Klaus Dodds, professor of Geopolitics at Royal Holloway University of London, on Donald Trump’s latest Greenland gambit and how the incoming US president’s geographical imagination might shape Arctic geopolitics and the liberal international order in an era of great power competition. Polar Geopolitics on Twitter / X: @polargeopol Polar Geopolitics Y

Arctic security, seabed warfare, Russia-China relations and U.S. engagement under Trump: Mathieu Boulègue on the events, issues and upheavals shaping geopolitics for 2025

Dec 30 2024 68 mins

Arctic security, critical undersea infrastructure and Russian strategic calculations are in focus as Mathieu Boulègue joins the podcast to analyze the wider geopolitical consequences of recent events and upheavals in Ukraine, Syria, the Baltic Sea and beyond. Consulting Fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, Boulègue discusses the effects of Russia’s war

Cracks in Consensus: Krill, marine conservation and the consequences of CCMALR 43 failures for Antarctic governance and geopolitics

Nov 18 2024 42 mins

Many observers considered the 43rd annual CCAMLR meeting in Hobart a major disappointment due to the failure to renew important protections on krill fisheries and the continued lack of progress on marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. Some are even concerned that the breakdown in consensus, centered on China and Russia refusing to extend existing or instit

Carrots, sticks and the near-Arctic state narrative: China’s influence strategies in the Arctic

Oct 04 2024 41 mins

How does China exert influence in the Arctic, and has it already peaked? A new in-depth report published by the Wilson Center analyzes Chinese information and influence operations in each of the eight Arctic Council member states. The report’s co-author Adam Lajeunesse, associate professor at St. Francis Xavier University, joins the podcast to explain China’s multifaceted influ

Analyzing ATCM 46: Current issues and dynamics in the governance and geopolitics of Antarctica

Sep 27 2024 41 mins

From geopolitical posturing surrounding the status of Belarus and Canada inside the Antarctic Treaty, to diverging views on science, environmental protection and the regulation of tourism, the 46thAntarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Kochi, India provided, in an era of great power competition and new constellations within the international system, a snapshot on the current stat

Arctic nation, or not? The Geopolitics of Arctic state identity

Sep 19 2024 39 mins

The eight member states of the Arctic Council each draw upon geography, history and other factors to promote their identity as an Arctic nation, while non-Arctic states seeking influence in the region use different—although sometimes similar—arguments to foster an image of being an Arctic stakeholder or, as in one prominent example, a “near-Arctic state”. The author of the