‘Observing’ the Arctic

Addressing the growing economic, political, and cultural presence of Asian states in the Arctic region, this timely book looks at how that presence is being evaluated and engaged with by Arctic states and their northern communities. A diverse range of authors addresses the question that underpins so much of this interest in Asian engagement with the northern latitudes: what do Asian countries want to gain from the Arctic?

Although China, Japan, India, Singapore and South Korea were only accepted as formal observers to the Arctic Council in 2013, this book outlines a longer history of Asian-Arctic engagement that spans centuries. It highlights how this role as observer generates new challenges, dangers and opportunities for Arctic states and their northern communities. Climate change, energy and other resources such as fish, global geopolitical change and northern autonomy are shown to all play a part in mediating how Asian states are observed and evaluated in the Arctic Council and beyond.

Students of Asian and Arctic studies will find the exploration of the roots of religion, culture and trade in the long-standing Asian interest in the Arctic to be compelling. This will also be a beneficial read particularly for scholars in geopolitics, international relations and political science as it shows how an intergovernmental forum can have global, national and local impacts.

Contributors include: M.M. Bennett, S. Chaturvedi, K. Dodds, N. Filimonova, N. Hong, S. Knecht, N. Liu, I.A. Medby, Y.-K. Park, U. Sinha, C.Y. Woon