Arctic security: regional distinctiveness and global connections

Research on security and governance is not racing to keep track with the rapid changes in both politics and climate in the Arctic. It also suffers from a disconnect between studies and research agendas driven by policy and theoretical interest respectively.

As a contribution to developing a research agenda for the International Polar Year 2032-33, this chapter in the book A Research Agenda for Arctic Security and Governance argues the impor­tance of identifying entanglements across environmental, geopolitical, and postcolonial dynamics when trying to understand Arctic security.

The argument is illustrated through the example of Greenland and further emphasises how theories of security and regions should better account for the unique materiality and transitional sovereignties that are unique to the Arctic.