LIVESTREAMING:

Great Powers, Economic Actors, and the Environment on the Move:

The Dynamics of a Changing Arctic

The Arctic has become a hub for complex great power dynamics, new economic opportunities and challenges, and climate change which challenges the physical geography and living conditions of Arctic communities.

As a result, major changes are taking place in the priorities of and relations between states, multinational resource extraction companies, the shipping industry, international institutions, the military industry, and the defense community.

In the Arctic, melting permafrost makes environmental issues a top priority of great powers, developments in military technology for extreme weather conditions alter the nature of interaction between national defenses, and private companies, state actors and international institutions cooperate on combining profitability with climate protection.

At this conference, politicians, diplomats, defense personnel, representatives from the defense and shipping industry, and academics, journalists and think tank personnel discuss the swiftly changing dynamics of a region at the forefront of changing international relations.

PROGRAM

14:00 – 18:00

14:00: Introductory remarks 

Charlotte Flindt Pedersen, Director, The Danish Foreign Policy Society 

14:20: Panel 1: The role of the great powers in the Arctic 

Moderator: Martin Breum, Arctic expert and freelance journalist 

• Kenneth R. Weinstein, Walter P. Stern Distinguished Fellow, Hudson Institute: The U.S. role in the Arctic.
• Michael Mann (online), EU Special Envoy for Arctic Matters: The EU’s role in the Arctic.
• M. Taylor Fravel (online), Professor, Security Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT): China’s role in the Arctic.
• Alexander Sergunin (online), Professor, Department of International Relations at St.Petersburg State University: Russia’s role in the Arctic.
• Sara Olsvig, University of Greenland, Ilisimaturfik: Great power politics: A view from Greenland.
• Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen, Professor of Northern Studies and Barents Chair in Politics at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, campus Tromsø: Perspectives from Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands 

Q&A

15:50: Break

16:15: Panel 2: The environment and the defense industry in the Arctic 

Moderator: Martin Breum, Arctic expert and freelance journalist 

The defense industry: 

• Randy “Church” Kee (online), Major General, United States Air Force (ret.), Commissioner, U.S. Arctic Research Commission; Executive Director, Arctic Domain Awareness Center, University of Alaska; Global Fellow, Polar Institute, Wilson Center: Trends in the U.S. Arctic strategy.
• Kim Jesper Jørgensen, Lieutenant General, Commander of the Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization: An operational view on the need for maritime and air capabilities in the Arctic.
• Kåre Groes Christiansen, CEO, Odense Maritime Technology: Trends in the future maritime platforms of the Arctic.
• Jes Munk Hansen, CEO & President for Terma A/S: Trends in air and space technologies in the Arctic. 

Q&A

The environment: 

• Kathryn C. Lavelle (online), Professor, Department of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University: The interplay between maritime and environmental interests in the Arctic.
• Minik Rosing, Professor of geology at the University of Copenhagen, Geological Museum, Museum of Natural History: Minerals extraction issues in the Arctic. 

Q&A

17:45: Closing remarks 

Charlotte Flindt Pedersen, Director, The Danish Foreign Policy Society