The liquifying frontier: How the melting Arctic chalenges traditional sovereignty
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2025-05-14
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en
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This essay examines the multifaceted challenges to traditional understandings and applications of maritime sovereignty in the rapidly transforming Arctic Ocean. Using a literary analysis, this essay explores how sovereignty, as a developing concept, is represented in various document types, and if/how the Arctic Ocean’s unique physicality affects its application from concept to law. By establishing the areas of interest in the Arctic ocean, this essay analyses how nation-states are using the legal frameworks developed by themselves and/or international bodies to access the Arctic and its resources and/or limit access for others. Driven by climate change, the Arctic is transitioning from a relatively inaccessible frontier to a strategically and economically significant region, attracting the attention of bordering and extra-territorial nation-states. This newfound accessibility for resource exploitation and navigation exposes the limitations of established legal frameworks, which were primarily designed for static coastlines and fixed boundaries. This essay explores that the traditional portrayal of the concept of sovereignty in documents affects Arctic governance and argues for the development of a more realistic concept of sovereignty which aligns itself with the uniqueness of Arctic physicality and needs for a future with a positive and inclusive Arctic governance.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen