Leif Christian Jensen - International Relations in the Arctic: Norway and the Struggle for Power in the New North

Leif Jensens interrogation of what he terms the discursive struggle for power provides a methodologically sophisticated and empirically rich account of what Norwegian scholars and political figures call the High North. However, what makes this book rather different is that Dr Jensen goes beyond the usual platitudes of High North, Low Tension and provides a critical and insightful study into how Norway and its most important Arctic neighbour, Russia, make sense of this space called the High North. We might be witnessing a New North emerging but this book warns us that there is plenty of evidence of an Old North as well, haunted and at times inflamed by colonial and Cold War legacies. Highly recommended.

Klaus Dodds, Professor of Geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London and co-author of The Scramble for the Poles: Contemporary Geopolitics of the Arctic and Antarctic

Norway, one of the five major powers in the Arctic, frames the area by othering Russia, with which it shares a border. Is Russia a cookie jar or a mouse trap? And if the latter, isnt it better to be on the inside on an environmental vigil nonetheless? Jensen demonstrates how the Norwegian state effectively polices it all in the name of consensus.

Iver B. Neumann, Montague Burton Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics

INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS IN
THE ARCTIC

Norway and the Struggle for Power in the
New North

L EIF C HRISTIAN J ENSEN

Published in 2016 by
I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd
London New York
www.ibtauris.com

Copyright 2016 Leif Christian Jensen

The right of Leif Christian Jensen to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Every attempt has been made to gain permission for the use of the images in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in future editions.

References to websites were correct at the time of writing.

Library of Arctic Studies 1

ISBN: 978 1 78453 213 0

eISBN: 978 0 85772 880 7

ePDF: 978 0 85772 821 0

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available

For Mikkel and Jesper

CONTENTS

MAPS

High North as generally conceived in the Norwegian discourse
Source: Fridtjof Nansen Institute

The Barents Sea region
Source: Fridtjof Nansen Institute

Jurisdiction of the Barents Sea
Source: Fridtjof Nansen Institute

Barents Sea continental shelf
Source: Fridtjof Nansen Institute

Barents Region
Source: Fridtjof Nansen Institute

Barents Sea Petroleum
Source: Fridtjof Nansen Institute

PREFACE

It would not have been possible for me to write this book without the help and support of the kind people around me, only some of whom it is possible to mention specifically here.

I wish to thank my publisher I.B.Tauris, my editor Tomasz Hoskins and production editor Sara Magness for their professional support and encouragement throughout the project. Many warm thanks also to my eminent language consultants Chris Saunders and Susan Hivik, for translating the Norwegian material into English and lifting my text considerably. A big thanks to Maryanne Rygg, whose superb formatting skills have improved the appearance of the text greatly and have ensured that the references are as they should be throughout. Special mention is due to my close colleagues, Geir Hnneland and Pl Skedsmo, who agreed to my revisions of co-authored material in this book. I give sincere thanks also to Claes Lykke Ragner for producing the six maps in Chapter 2. To Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI) and its leadership goes a special mention for continued backing in every way possible throughout this book project. I count myself very fortunate to have such a fantastic employer. My thanks also go to FNI librarian Kari Lorentzen, for ferreting out whatever I have needed (and fast!), and to FNIs Rigmor Hiorth, for always meeting me with a smile and for being pleasantly helpful at all times.

This book has become far better as a direct consequence of the help, encouragement and enthusiasm flowing from all these people. On the other hand, of course the buck stops with me any mistakes, flaws or other faults remaining in the text are mine and mine alone.

Finally, I would like to thank the three most important people in my life: my wife Katarina, and my two little boys. Mikkel and Jesper, I dedicate this book to you.

NORTH

Look North more often
Go against the wind, youll get ruddy cheeks.
Find the rough path. Keep to it.
Its shorter.
North is best.
Winters flaming sky, summer
nights sun miracle.
Go against the wind. Climb mountains.
Look north.
More often.
This land is long.
Most is north.
Rolf Jacobsen (1993), translated by Olav Grinde

INTRODUCTION

The Arctic is a barometer of global change, natural and political. As the ice cap recedes, governments are positioning themselves to claim possession of and exploit the massive reserves of fossil energy and the new geopolitical and commercial opportunities. Using Norway one of the Arctic five as a pertinent case, I interrogate the struggle for ascendancy in the New North and how the mixture of contest and cooperation is framed through foreign policy discourse. Policy discourses are understood and analysed as public discursive practices that frame and constrain political thinking and possibilities for action. Despite being a small Arctic state and sharing a border with Russia, Norway produces a good proportion of the world's oil and gas and has vital interests of its own in this region. It is a central player in international relations (IR) in the Arctic. In 2005, the government launched what it called its High North Initiative. The Arctic rose to the top of Norway's foreign policy agenda and became the most important strategic area for the foreseeable future. In exploring this political process, the book analyses the framing of four of the weightiest foreign policy issues: security; Russia; the environment; and natural resources. I hope to show how dominating discourses enable/disable action, and limit what is considered politically feasible and relevant for governments in a changing Arctic. The book also shows how a socially oriented discourse analysis can be relevant to analyses of actual political issues, something that has been lacking in the literature. Based on the data, I also advance theoretical and methodological propositions in discourse analysis of use in the analysis of other empirical contexts. Hopefully this book will therefore also appeal to students of IR with an interest in discourse analysis as an analytical tool, as well as people who have an interest in international politics in the Arctic more specifically.