http://arctic.foreignpolicyblogs.com The World Affairs Blog Network Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:27:43 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en From February 5-6, 2010, in the dead of the Arctic winter, the finance ministers and central bank governors of the G-7 will meet in Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut. The meeting will serve as preparation for the actual G-7 summit to be held in Ontario next summer. The population of Iqaluit ... http://arctic.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/11/19/g7-finance-ministers-to-meet-in-nunavut/ [caption id="attachment_1059" align="aligncenter" width="423" caption="© COMSUBPAC Public Affairs"][/caption] Last week, it was reported that an American submarine, the USS Texas (SSN 775), surfaced near the North Pole in mid-October. The submarine, part of the Virginia class, was the first ship in its kind to do so. It was taking part in an ... http://arctic.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/11/16/american-submarine-near-north-pole-worries-canadians/ [caption id="attachment_1044" align="alignright" width="226" caption="Sarah James"][/caption] The Alaska Wilderness League organized a trip to the nation's capital this week to lobby the Obama administration against oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and in offshore areas. Sarah James, an elder of the Gwich'in nation, was one of the leaders of ... http://arctic.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/11/12/alaska-natives-travel-to-dc-to-lobby-against-anwr-drilling/ [caption id="attachment_1038" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption="Canadian Forces in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, Canada. © MCpl Kevin Paul, Canadian Forces Combat Camera"][/caption] Erin Anderssen of the Globe and Mail has a strong piece on the future of the Canadian military in today's online edition. Soldiers donning the Maple Leaf on their uniform now have ... http://arctic.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/11/07/the-future-of-the-canadian-military/ On October 21, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree (in Russian) declaring that the State Technical University in Arkhangelsk, Russia will transform into the Northern (Arctic) Federal University. Arkhangelsk was medieval Russia's primary seaport and is nicknamed the "Gateway to the Arctic." The transformation from a state to a federal ... http://arctic.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/11/07/new-arctic-university-to-open-in-russia/ [caption id="attachment_1019" align="aligncenter" width="394" caption="© Los Angeles Times"][/caption] In the wake of an announcement by British polar explorer Pen Hadow, leader of the Catlin Arctic Survey, that the Arctic will be ice-free within ten years, Russia announced that it will charge ships a "fair" fee to cross the Atlantic to the ... http://arctic.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/11/01/russia-will-charge-ships-crossing-northern-sea-route/ On October 23, the House passed HR 3619, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010. While the bill delineates the appropriations for the Coast Guard, the significance of the bill for Arctic affairs is Section 311, the Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment Implementation. This section was originally a stand-alone bill, HR ... http://arctic.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/10/25/congress-approves-70-million-for-arctic-shipping/ © AP Photo/Al GrilloThe International Arctic Fisheries Symposium convened in Anchorage, Alaska last week to discuss management of fish stocks in the world's northern waters. 150 people from the fields of science, politics, and industry shared ideas about migratory, transboundary, and straddling fish stocks.  Geopolitics, then, are even affecting cod ... http://arctic.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/10/25/international-arctic-fisheries-symposium-meets-in-alaska/ Alaska Indigenous people in Alaska are facing the difficult problem of reconciling development with native traditions. After a delay of several years, the Minerals and Management Service (MMS) of the U.S. government has finally given Royal Dutch Shell the rights to drilling in Camden Bay in the Beaufort Sea. Provided it ... http://arctic.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/10/20/more-challenges-for-arctic-indigenous/ Today, the Murmansk International Economic Forum met in the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle. The Barents Sea Nations, which are composed of Russia and the five Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway, convened to discuss the future of oil and gas development in the ... http://arctic.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/10/15/barents-sea-nations-meet-declare-murmansk-gas-capital/