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2019 | Book

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Leadership for the North

The Influence and Impact of Arctic Council Chairs

Editor: Douglas C. Nord

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Book Series : Springer Polar Sciences

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Table of Contents

About this book

This book investigates multidimensional change in the Arctic and policy response to it. It focuses its attention on the need for effective leadership within the region. In so doing it considers the contribution made by the main international organization of the region, the Arctic Council. In particular, it examines the various leadership functions undertaken by the Chair of that body including that of convener, manager, promoter, representative and resolver of differences. It is argued that in performing these multiple roles the Chair is contributing to the necessary leadership required to address pressing Arctic concerns.

The book highlights the activities of the four most recent Arctic Council Chairs, Sweden, Canada, the United States and Finland. It considers the programs for action that each of these countries promoted during their terms at the helm of this major circumpolar organization. It examines the particular approaches, methods and strategies that each used to advance its agenda and the consequences of such efforts. It focuses attention on the need for building consensus among a diverse membership including Arctic states, organizations representing northern indigenous peoples, non-Arctic countries and non-governmental bodies.

Drawing upon the insights of scholars from several disciplines from across the circumpolar community, the collected essays in this volume seek to paint a picture of the real challenges and opportunities for international diplomacy in the contemporary North. It suggests that there are true “lessons to be learned” in advancing leadership within the region. The book provides a means for considering these and the most effective means of response.

Frontmatter

Introduction

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Providing Leadership for the North

Abstract

This chapter provides a brief overview of the need for leadership in the contemporary Arctic. It considers how the process of Arctic governance has evolved over the past quarter century and how the Arctic Council has become a central actor in this endeavor. It looks at how recent Arctic Council Chairmanships have played significant roles in developing a response to pressing Arctic concerns. It notes, however, that the precise means by which successive chairs of the organization have advanced its work has rarely been examined or compared. This is the overall focus of this volume. Its individual chapter inquiries are noted and briefly summarized.

Douglas C. Nord

The Arctic Council and its Chair

Frontmatter

Chapter 2. Policy Paradoxes: Challenges Confronting the Contemporary Arctic

Abstract

There is both continuity and change in the challenges facing governance of the contemporary Arctic. Since the inception of the Arctic Council, the Chairs have played a significant role in highlighting or reducing the importance of different variables related to the region’s interlinked social and environmental changes. We argue that many of the current challenges confronting Arctic residents and stakeholders are in fact paradoxes – examples of irresolvable tensions at the top of the world that can be researched and managed, but are unlikely, without a significant unanticipated event, to be resolved. This chapter approaches the challenges faced in the twenty-first century Arctic from a perspective that recognizes the complexity of the agenda-setting that an Arctic Council Chair encounters. In the past 20 years interest in the poles has grown and the conduct of research has evolved, yet there remain disconnects between local, national, and Pan-Arctic actors’ policies and the security and vitality of the region. As more information about Arctic systems - social, ecological, and geophysical – becomes available at ever-faster speeds, the meaning of this information to diverse and competing actors is also evolving. The Arctic Council Chairmanship process has a role in promoting a better fit over time between Arctic Council governance and government policies in the North.

Amy Lauren Lovecraft, Douglas Cost

Chapter 3. The Arctic Council in Transition

Abstract

Over the course of its twenty-year lifetime the Arctic Council (AC) has undergone a transition from a low-profile regional institution known to only but a few, to an acclaimed primary forum for circumpolar and global cooperation on issues pertaining to the Arctic. Established as a body void of most features of traditional international organization, the Council has managed to find for itself a niche among other international institutions and gradually enhanced both its structures and position, despite no change in its legal foundation and mandate. How did this process unfold? More importantly, from this contribution’s perspective, what was the role of the Arctic Council Chairmanship in this evolution? The chapter aims to address both of these questions.

Malgorzata (Gosia) Smieszek

Chapter 4. Chairs and International Organizations: The Case of the Arctic Council

Abstract

This chapter considers the position of chairs within most international organizations. Omnipresent but usually viewed as having limited influence and impact, the heads of such bodies can nonetheless be seen to perform critical functions for their organizations. These are outlined and discussed with an eye to their ability to provide both power and leadership capabilities to the occupants of such organizational chairs. The specific “powers of the chair” and the alternative leadership styles that can be pursued are discussed. The particular case of the Chair of the Arctic Council is then considered. The origins and structure of this body are reviewed as they pertain to possible leadership responsibilities and capabilities for its head. These dimensions are further developed and discussed with the goal of providing a common analytical frame for the consideration of specific Chairmanships of the Arctic Council in subsequent chapters of the volume. The chapter concludes by considering four ongoing leadership challenges that must be faced by all who operate at the helm of the body.

Douglas C. Nord

Recent Arctic Council Chairmanships

Frontmatter

Chapter 5. The Swedish Chairmanship: Foresight and Hindsight in Arctic Activism

Abstract

The Swedish Chairmanship of the Arctic Council 2011–2013 still holds many of the keys in understanding Sweden’s overall stance in Arctic affairs. When Sweden took the chair in early 2011, many Observers were skeptical of its likely impact on the region not only because the organization and its role in circumpolar economic and social development were contested at the time. There were also misgivings about Sweden’s role as a “reluctant” Arctic nation. Sweden, nevertheless, contributed during its term as Chair of the Arctic Council to significant organizational revitalization and moving its Arctic agenda on soft security concerns forward. The chapter revisits the leadership goals, strategies, roles and achievements of the Swedish Chairmanship. These are then compared and contrasted with subsequent Swedish activity within the Council. The potential for a Swedish return to an active leadership role in the Arctic is then considered against the background of a changing international setting and increased policy relevance of the Arctic to Sweden.

Niklas Eklund

Chapter 6. Development or Bust: Canada’s Arctic Council Chairmanship 2013–15

Abstract

Canada chaired the Arctic Council from 2013–15. During its tenure, Canada attempted to rebalance the policy focus of the Arctic Council from environmental protection to sustainable, or as it termed it, responsible development. These efforts were met with resistance from many within the Arctic Council epistemic community. Critics feared that its support for resource development compromised efforts to combat climate changes; and that the agenda favored business stakeholders over scientific ones. This chapter describes and assesses Canada’s efforts to prioritize Arctic development at the regional level. It evaluates the extent to which its development agenda gained traction not only during its Chairmanship, but subsequently in the American and Finnish Chairmanship agendas and through the ongoing work of the Council. Finally, it provides some reflections on the style and impact of the Canadian Chairmanship.

Heather Exner-Pirot

Chapter 7. The U.S. Chairmanship: Round Two

Abstract

This chapter explores the platforms, leadership processes, agenda and resulting complexity of the US Chairmanship of the Arctic Council (2015–2017). It examines the making of the “strategic agenda” that was at the foundation of the U.S. Chairmanship’s Program and then assesses the Chairmanship itself. What has the U.S. Chairmanship meant for the Arctic Council? What did the Arctic Council mean for the U.S. Chairmanship? What did it contribute to the long- standing work plan of the Arctic Council and its transition to the Finnish Chairmanship in the second half 2017? It concludes that both an entrepreneurial approach to the role of the Chair, and disaggregate agenda-setting effort contributed in no modest way to the stability of the Council’s transition, particularly as it has offset the potentially tumultuous impacts of the U.S. political landscape after the election of Donald Trump.

Heather Nicol

Chapter 8. Finland’s Chairmanship of the Arctic Council: Setting Priorities and Implementing Them

Abstract

Finland became the Chair of the Arctic Council in May of 2017. It has now passed the halfway point in its leadership term with its program of “Exploring Common Solutions” to Arctic needs. This chapter focuses its attention on how and why the specific elements of this thematic program were chosen and the progress that the Finnish Chairmanship has made, thus far, in advancing its objectives. The specific sponsored initiatives of the program are discussed as a reflection of both Finnish priorities and current institutional efforts. Finland’s leadership goals, methods, and roles are examined within the context of providing the Arctic Council with the necessary direction to achieve its long-term objectives. Consideration is given to the particularly challenging international environment in which the Finnish Chairmanship operates.

Timo Koivurova

Contributions and Perspectives of Other Participants

Frontmatter

Chapter 9. Change and Continuity Among the Priorities of the Arctic Council’s Permanent Participants

Abstract

Indigenous peoples’ organizations provide leadership in the Arctic Council and augment leadership by Chairs and Member States. How have the priorities of the Arctic Council’s Permanent Participants changed over time? How have their priorities stayed the same? How do they differ from the priorities of Member States and the Chairs of the institutions? How do the Permanent Participants provide leadership, and clash with leadership in the institution? These major questions frame the analysis in this chapter. The Arctic Council is the region’s most important international forum, allowing a leadership role for all Arctic states and Indigenous peoples’ organizations. It is unique in that it presents Indigenous peoples’ organizations a form of membership in the institution. They are termed Permanent Participants, signifying that their participation is not subject to the whims of states. In the two decades that the Council has contributed to Arctic regional governance, Member States and Permanent Participants have worked together in a number of ways. This analysis measures the priorities of the Permanent Participants by examining their sponsorship and contributions to Council projects, accomplished through textual and statistical accounting of reports by Senior Arctic Officials. This work reveals that Permanent Participants are more likely to support local community priorities than are Member States.

Andrew Chater

Chapter 10. Non-Arctic State Observers of the Arctic Council: Perspectives and Views

Abstract

The 1996 Ottawa Declaration establishing the Arctic Council allowed for three categories of Observers within the body: non-Arctic states; intergovernmental and inter-parliamentary organizations and non-governmental organizations that the Arctic Council deemed might contribute to its work. At the first opportunity during the Iqaluit Ministerial in 1998, four non-Arctic state Observers, three intergovernmental and inter-parliamentary organizations, and four non-governmental organizations were admitted as Observers. There are now a total of thirty-nine accredited Observers within the Arctic Council. What has brought about this major increase? Who are these Observers and what roles do they play within the organization? What are their perspectives on the operation of the body and the challenges of leadership within it? Have their roles and perspectives changed over the last four Chairmanships? What have been the nature of their interactions with the Chair? This chapter will endeavor to address each of these questions.

Diddy R. M. Hitchins

Insights on Leadership

Frontmatter

Chapter 11. Findings and Conclusions

Abstract

This final chapter of the volume provides a summary of the key findings and insights that the several contributing authors to the volume offer regarding leadership within the Arctic Council. It presents these within the framework of five interrelated questions. The first of these is what have we learned about the particular contributions of the most recent occupants of the Chair? The second one is, how should we evaluate their efforts? The third is dual in character: What is the overall impact of the “powers of the chair” and what constraints limit their application? The fourth question focuses on what are the “best practices” that can be taken away from this consideration of organizational leadership. The fifth question relates to what are the type of challenges that future Arctic Council Chairs are likely to encounter and how the organization will have to evolve if it is to continue to provide leadership for the North?

Douglas C. Nord

Title: Leadership for the North
Editor: Douglas C. Nord
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-03107-7
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03106-0
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03107-7