Search

Like all spatially delimited regions in international society, the Arctic is socially constructed. Political and economic considerations play prominent roles as determinants of the region’s boundaries, the identity of those states regarded as Arctic states, and the nature of the interactions between the Arctic and the outside world. From this perspective the recent history of the Arctic divides into two distinct periods: the late 1980s through 2007 and 2007 to the present. As the cold war faded, the Arctic became a peripheral region of declining importance in global political calculations. No one challenged the dominance of the eight Arctic states in regional affairs, and the Arctic Council focused on regional concerns relating to environmental protection and sustainable development. Today, by contrast, the ‘new’ Arctic is a focus of intense global interest, largely because climate change is proceeding more rapidly in this region than anywhere else on Earth with global consequences and because the increasing accessibility of the Arctic’s natural resources has generated enhanced interest on the part of outside actors. As a result, Arctic issues have merged into global issues, making the region a prominent arena for the interplay of geopolitical forces. Cooperative arrangements established during the first period (e.g. the Arctic Council) may require adjustment to operate effectively in the ‘new’ Arctic. Treated as a case study, the Arctic story provides an illuminating lens through which to analyze the forces that shape thinking about the nature of regions in international society and the role of cooperative arrangements at the regional level.

Like all spatially delimited regions in international society, the Arctic is socially constructed. Political and economic considerations play prominent roles as determinants of the region’s boundaries, the identity of those states regarded as Arctic states, and the nature of the interactions between the Arctic and the outside world. From this perspective the recent history of the Arctic divides into two distinct periods: the late 1980s through 2007 and 2007 to the present. As the cold war faded, the Arctic became a peripheral region of declining importance in global political calculations. No one challenged the dominance of the eight Arctic states in regional affairs, and the Arctic Council focused on regional concerns relating to environmental protection and sus tainable development. Today, by contrast, the ‘new’ Arctic is a focus of intense glo bal interest, largely because climate change is proceeding more rapidly in this region than anywhere else on Earth with global consequences and because the increasing accessibility of the Arctic’s natural resources has generated enhanced interest on the part of outside actors. As a result, Arctic issues have merged into global issues, making the region a prominent arena for the interplay of geopolitical forces. Cooperative arrangements established during the first period (e.g. the Arctic Council) may require adjustment to operate effectively in the ‘new’ Arctic. Treated as a case study, the Arctic story provides an illuminating lens through which to analyze the forces that shape thinking about the nature of regions in international society and the role of cooperative arrangements at the regional level.

INTRODUCTION. The Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation, 2017, has recently become part of the International Law applicable to the Arctic Region and the relevant legal history is considered in this paper. Special attention is paid to the scope of application of the 2017 Agreement and the interpretation of provisions which provide new rights and obligations of its Parties in the context of an extensive international legal framework which already applies to the Arctic Ocean.Materials and Methods. The materials for research include first and foremost the text of the 2017 Arctic Agreement, in the context of other rules of International Law, both treaty and customary, which are applicable to the Arctic Ocean. General and special scientific methods of contemporary cognition composed the relevant methodological basis for the research.RESEARCH RESULTS. The 2017 Arctic Agreement has become an important element of the extensive international legal framework which applies to the Arctic Ocean. This broad international legal framework is contained in a system of International Law instruments regulating relations between subjects of International Law: first of all, between Arctic States, and then between them and non-Arctic States; especially in such branches of States’ activity as the protection of the marine environment, including ice-covered areas, freedom of navigation, marine scientific research, and other uses of the sea. Within this extensive legal framework the 2017 Agreement has a special position as lex posterior. This is important in the context of the scope of the Agreement (the designated territories of the Parties) and also taking into account the complexity of its correct interpretation.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION. Science cooperation according to the 2017 Arctic Agreement may contribute to improving regulatory measures in a number of vital areas: to promote best available technologies in the Arctic region; to make more safe navigation in the Arctic waters (while they are becoming free from ice during most of the year); to assist in formulating modern maps for Arctic navigation; to advance plans for creating modern port infrastructure in the North ; science cooperation might give impetus to designating new sea lanes and traffic separation schemes (in the Barents Sea and in the Bering Strait, for example) and to promote additional legal measures to protect and preserve the marine environment in the Arctic.