The Time Is Now For A Globally Respected US Arctic Policy

It will take slightly more than rejoining the Paris Agreement, but the time is now for a globally respected Arctic Policy, states Dr. Dwayne Ryan Menezes, founder of London-based think-tank Polar Research and Policy Initiative, as he puts forth a 20 part list of recommendations for the Biden-Harris administration on how to make US Arctic Policy sound and solid in the next 4 years. But the time is now to make this happen writes Menezes, “The new Biden-Harris administration almost uniquely has every advantage proffered by hindsight and foresight to build on the Obama-Biden administration’s legacy and go further still, putting flesh on the bones of its priorities and crafting a sound, effective and globally respected US Arctic policy.

The article, recently published in JONAA, Journal of the North Atlantic & Arctic, includes recommendations and arguments on issues such as: Developing a US Arctic Policy that builds on and recognising the interdependence between, three pillars – sustainable development, environmental stewardship and indigenous engagement; integrating local, tribal, regional and federal needs, interests and priorities; and clearly communicating to the nation and the world the importance that the US places on the Arctic.

Re-affirm the commitment of the US to Arctic cooperation in many levels plays a part in most of the recommendations, which include e.g.:

Revitalising cooperation with Canada and Greenland to devise transnational responses to regional challenges, recognising the right of indigenous people to have relationships and engage in cultureal and economic activities with their people who live in communities that straddle international borders; articulating a more holistic vision of Arctic security, one that acknowledges the extent to which ‘domain awareness’ has redefined the traditional military focus, while a new human rights discourse undercuts traditional ways of managing sovereignty and territory, and accepts that military, human and environmental security can no longer be understood/treated as separate.

The list is long and issues diverse. Read the whole article: An Arctic Wish List For The Biden-Harris administration

The author of the Article referred to is Dr Dwayne Ryan Menezes is the Founder and Managing Director of Polar Research and Policy Initiative (PRPI)
Photograph: JONAA©Kristjan Fridriksson