Padrtová on Politics and Strategies in the Arctic

Barbora Padrtová is among the authors of a comprehensive, newly-released analytical book titled "The scientific report Arctic Policies and Strategies – Analysis, Synthesis and Trends". The book delivers a holistic analysis of the policies, strategies, and declarations of the relevant Arctic stakeholders. It also includes new and/or emerging trends of Arctic governance and geopolitics in the early 21st century.

The analysis, using quantitative and qualitative methods, is based on a coding of the text of 56 policy documents (released in 1996-2019). It considers how different Arctic actors define and address issues around the following: the human dimension, governance, international cooperation, environmental protection, pollution, climate change, security, safety, economy, tourism, infrastructure, and science & education.

The study shows that the overall new and/or emerging trends of the future in the Arctic are as follows: 1) Ambivalence of Arctic development, including ‘political inability,’ whenever a balance is sought between environmental protection and economic activities; 2) The domination of States within the Arctic territory due to geopolitical stability and sovereignty vis-à-vis internationalization/globalization, and due to international treaties and self-determination; 3) Focus on science, with all Arctic stakeholders being dependent on scientific research and international cooperation in science for problem-solving due to climate change; and 4) Close interrelationship between the Arctic and Space (e.g., digital security, satellites, meteorology) due to globalization and rapidly advancing climate change in the Arctic.

The publication is available here: