Editorial Note

The Arctic is one of the places on the planet where the effects of climate change are most apparent. Vast expanses of land and sea, once locked beneath a fortress of ice, are undergoing dramatic transformations. What was once inaccessible is now within reach—resources buried for millennia, trade routes long imagined but never realised. Suddenly, the age-old dream of a shortcut between continents via the North Pole isn’t a fantasy; it’s a tangible reality.

With these transformations, the Arctic’s strategic importance has grown, and the security concerns of its surrounding States have become tightly entwined. Some see the region as a potential flashpoint for great power rivalries and military conflict. Yet, before 2022, many regarded it as a rare zone, where nations pursued shared interests through various cooperative mechanisms. The Arctic is, perhaps, the ultimate example of the pitfalls of conflating security, geography, and State practices. Or, put another way, the Arctic is prone to quick ‘geopolitical’ analyses that make bold claims about the region, lacking specificity, nuance or even a comprehension of what geographical space we are talking about.