International Law and the ArcticClimate change and rising oil prices have thrust the Arctic to the top of the foreign policy agenda and raised difficult issues of sovereignty, security and environmental protection. Improved access for shipping and resource development is leading to new international rules on safety, pollution prevention and emergency response. Around the Arctic, maritime boundary disputes are being negotiated and resolved, and new international institutions, such as the Arctic Council, are mediating deep-rooted tensions between Russia and NATO and between nation states and indigenous peoples. International Law and the Arctic explains these developments and reveals a strong trend towards international cooperation and law-making. It thus contradicts the widespread misconception that the Arctic is an unregulated zone of potential conflict. |
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200 nautical miles Agreement Alaska Arctic Council Arctic Ocean Arctic Waters Article 76 Barents Sea Beaufort Sea Bering Strait Canada Canadian Arctic Canadian government central Arctic Ocean Chapter Circumpolar claim CLCS climate change coastal coastline Commission concerning continental margin continental shelf Convention cooperation Danish defined Development and International difficult dispute drilling environmental extended continental shelf first fisheries fishing five Foreign geological geomorphological Greenland Hans Island Ibid icebreakers internal waters International Court International Law international strait Inuit Inuvialuit Island issue jurisdiction Limits Lomonosov Ridge maritime boundary nautical miles navigation negotiations Northern Sea Route Northwest Passage Norway Norwegian nuclear-weapon-free zone Nunavut Ocean Development offshore oil and gas oil spill Pacific parties Polar Bear Pollution regional Russia Saami scientific sea-ice seabed Search and Rescue Security significant significantly sovereign rights sovereignty Soviet Union specific straight baselines submarine elevations submission Svalbard territorial sea treaty UNCLOS vessels whaling