ABSTRACT
This chapter appraises international law in the geopolitics of the Arctic. For the purposes of this chapter, the “geo” in the term geopolitics denotes Arctic marine, land, and air space, while “politics” denotes power processes with which all laws, perforce, are intertwined. Thus, geopolitics designates power processes across territorial units known as states and the assets and resources they claim. The public order of the Arctic – a function of geopolitics and international law – is currently optimal in contrast to the minimum order that describes other regions of the planet. Stakeholder interactions are stable, with participants pursuing common interests utilizing codified and customary law, including dedicated mechanisms and institutions. The interplay of interests, power, and law ensures that any “Scramble for the Arctic” is controlled and managed, in contrast to the unfettered 19th-century “Scramble for Africa.”
