2. Opening Remarks

Changes are inevitable – but the pace and nature differ over time, where the changes taking place these years have gone much faster due to a number of factors. Change can come from within as a desire or wish to improve current conditions, or it can be externally induced from a desire from external actors to have a say about matters. It can also be from actions which we do not have control over, for example markets abroad eyeing new opportunities in the Arctic, or it can be because people have the best intentions for the Arctic. Often, if not always, there is an intricate relationship between inside and external forces of change. Several regime changes are taking place including, with the Arctic Council and how the Arctic Ocean countries are taking up the challenges. Instead of talking about traditional potential conflicts, it is more a conflict between different mindsets of how the Arctic should be dealt with in the future. In this process of change, the critical aspect will be how change is handled by those affected, or “inside” the Arctic.