6. Arctic governance

Abstract

‘Arctic governance’ discusses how the Arctic, unlike many other parts of the world, has been spared military conflict, civil wars, and terrorism. Arctic governance involves an array of actors, legal regimes, institutional and social contexts, and strategic aspirations. In 1989, Finland approached the other seven Arctic states with a proposal for the Rovaniemi Meeting, which discusses the protection of the Arctic environment. This provided the foundation for the intergovernmental forum the Arctic Council (1996). The eight Arctic states will remain significant players in the future governance of the northern latitudes alongside indigenous peoples/permanent participants. There will always be powerful drivers that ensure that the 'global Arctic' will be prominent in multiple ways, including the role that China, the European Union, and other external states will play in shaping its future.