Across the Ice

Assessing the Arctic Council and its role in contemporary Arctic Relations

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and assess the progress of the Arctic Council in its stated goals of maintaining and broadening cooperation between circumpolar nations. This is done through an analysis both its political agreements to date and policy documents published by the nine polar nations involved in the Council as well as overall accomplishment of the stated goals of the Council in the past 21 since the Council’s inception. Upon examination of these factors, it becomes clear that the Arctic Council has had middling success in its stated goals, due to a lack of overall unity in the goals and priorities of arctic nations, despite the overall cooperative sentiment expressed by each nation.

Discipline: Political Science Honours

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jean-Christophe Boucher