AFS 2024 - 03 - Transatlantic Cooperation in the Arctic in 2025 and Beyond

Transatlantic Cooperation in the Arctic in 2025 and Beyond
Changing political dynamics between Arctic states and within Arctic states have the potential to accelerate the transformation of the Arctic from an area apart from geopolitical tension to an area of geopolitical competition. All Arctic Council states apart from Russia are now NATO members, and these Arctic 7 must grapple with increasingly challenging ties to Russia and China. Although current points of tension do not stem from the Arctic, this does not preclude heightened tensions from being expressed in the European High North, North Atlantic, or the North American Arctic. Climate change is opening new opportunities for trans-Arctic trade, drawing interests from both Arctic and non-Arctic States. This panel was split into two 45-minute panels with three speakers each. The first focused on Transatlantic Cooperation Priorities : What Will Be New in 2025 and After, and the second focused on Transatlantic Cooperation on the Ground: How Transatlantic Cooperation Can Deliver.
Moderator
Ian Lesser - Distinguished Fellow and Adviser to the President, Head of Brussels Office, German
Marshall Fund of the United States
Speakers
Claude Véron-Réville - Head of Division for Western Europe and Special
Envoy for Arctic Matters, EEAS
Kristine Berzina - Managing Director, Geostrategy North, German Marshall
Fund of the United States
Johanna Ikävalko - Director, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
Bergdís Ellertsdóttir - Senior Arctic Official; Ambassador, Ministry for
Foreign Affairs, Iceland
Willfred Nordlund - Member of Parliament for Nordland and Chair of the
Standing Committee on Business and Industry, Norwegian Parliament
Ulla-Kirsikka Vainio - Mayor of Rovaniemi, Finland