ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses some long-term economic trends in Arctic development, with a special focus on the contemporary and potential future drivers. The main idea is that although the Arctic regions were until recently profoundly separated with regard to political and value chain respects, there have always been a number of common features in their destinies and ways of life originating from the need to meet similar challenges of surviving under the extreme natural conditions of the Circumpolar North.
The late 20th and early 21st centuries have witnessed fundamental changes in the traditional economic and political roles of the Arctic, turning it into an attractive and promising region at both national and global levels. However, with the recent shifts in the market and policy, which may well persist until 2035, the Arctic will face new challenges to its economic resilience, posing rigorous requirements for managers’ and politicians’ creative thinking. The chapter aims to outline some key challenges and policy choices and also presents the results of previous exercises in charting partial scenarios for more geographically limited areas.
