ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some general observations are offered about the origins and evolution of geopolitics. It provides a brief account of the manner in which the Arctic has been subjected in the past to the geography and geopolitics of imperialism. The chapter also examines the implications of Cold War geopolitics for the human and political geography of the Arctic. Geopolitics became a part of the power-political heritage or the realist tradition of international relations, from the gaze of which no part of the world, including the Arctic, could remain immune. Ecological concerns were conspicuous by their total absence or relative neglect in the national priorities and calculations of the Arctic states throughout the Cold War. The post-Cold War Arctic is increasingly being embraced by the discourse and practices of the world market economy. It is already integrated into the international political economy and thus increasingly impacted by the forces of economic globalization and political fragmentation.
