Lassi Heininen

Heather Exner-Pirot

This book assesses the construction of security in the context of climate change, with a focus on the Arctic region. It examines and discusses changes in the security premises of the Arctic states, from traditional security to environmental and human security. In particular, the book explores how climate change impacts security discourses and premises as well as theoretically discussing the possibility for another change, from circumpolar stability into peaceful change. Chapters cover topics such as the ethics of climate change in the arctic, Chinas emerging power and influence on arctic climate security, the discursive transformation of the definition of security and the intersection between urban, climate and Arctic studies. The book concludes with the question of whether a paradigm shift in our understanding of traditional security is possible, and whether it is already occurring in the Arctic. Lassi Heininen is the Editor of the Arctic Yearbook, Research Director at the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth Research at the University of Helsinki, Finland, Professor of International Relations at Northern (Arctic) Federal University, Russia, and Professor of Arctic Politics at the University of Lapland (retired). He is the author of over 300 scientific publications including The Global Arctic Handbook (2018), Future Security of the Global Arctic: State Policy, Economic Security and Climate (2016), and Security and Sovereignty in the North Atlantic (2014). Heather Exner-Pirot is Research Associate at the Observatoire de la politique et la sécurité de l'Arctique (OPSA), Canada and the Managing Editor of the Arctic Yearbook. She has held several positions at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, the International Centre for Northern Governance and Development, Canada and the University of the Arctic. She has published extensively on Arctic and northern governance, human security, and Indigenous economic development.

Searching for a Paradigm Shift

Climate Change and Arctic Security

This book assesses the construction of security in the context of climate change, with a focus on the Arctic region. It examines and discusses changes in the security premises of the Arctic states, from traditional security to environmental and human security. In particular, the book explores how climate change impacts security discourses and premises as well as theoretically discussing the possibility for another change, from circumpolar stability into peaceful change. Chapters cover topics such as the ethics of climate change in the arctic, China’s emerging power and influence on arctic climate security, the discursive transformation of the definition of security and the intersection between urban, climate and Arctic studies. The book concludes with the question of whether a paradigm shift in our understanding of traditional security is possible, and whether it is already occurring in the Arctic.

Heather Exner-Pirot

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