GEOPOLITIKK-NORD: Geopolitikk i nordområdene, norske interesser (Geopolitics in the High North. Norwegian Interests)

The High North is an area of great possibilities in the decades to come. Energy is the primary driver of economic interests in the region, closely followed by fisheries and tourism. At the same time there are many challenges. Climate change threatens trad itional livelihoods, and petroleum extraction and transportation may lead to environmental hazards. Several jurisdictional issues have not been solved. The project will study the geopolitical dynamics of the High North. Principal actors and their interes ts will be analysed, including states, local authorities, indigenous populations, international organisations and commercial actors. Implications for Norwegian national interests in the region will be discussed. The project will include researchers from s everal Norwegian research establishments and centres of excellence in the United States, Germany and Russia. A recurrent theme of the research programme will be the gradual opening of the High North. An expansion of activities in the region will give rise to challenges and conflicts of interests, tied, inter alia, to military issues, jurisdiction, infrastructure, the environment and commercial terms of operation. The project will analyse these challenges and discuss possible solutions. The project consis ts of 8 work packages: 1) Actors and Patterns of Cooperation and Conflict, 2) Russia, Norway and the High North, 3) The United States in the 21st Century Arctic, 4) The European Union and the High North, 5) The Power of Energy, 6) Law of the Sea and Ocean Governance 7) Climate Change and Environmental Protection, 8) Norwegian High North Interests Revisited. Through these work packages it will be possible to discern and discuss recent geopolitical trends in the High North. This will for the basis for an updated body of knowledge and recommendations that can be used by Norwegian authorities and commercial actors in order to pursue Norwegian interests in an effective manner.