Preparing for the next Arctic sovereignty crisis: The Northwest Passage in the age of Donald Trump
| Date | 01 June 2019 |
| Author | Adam Lajeunesse,Rob Huebert |
| Published date | 01 June 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702019849641 |
| Subject Matter | Scholarly Essays |
Scholarly Essay
Preparing for the next
Arctic sovereignty
crisis: The Northwest
Passage in the age
of Donald Trump
Adam Lajeunesse
Brian Mulroney Institute of Government, St. Francis Xavier
University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
Rob Huebert
Department of Political Science, University of Calgary, Calgary,
Alberta, Canada
Abstract
Dating to the early Cold War, Canada and the US have disagreed on the status of the
Northwest Passage. For Canada, the waters of the Arctic Archipelago are internal,
historic waters. For the US, the sea route is an international strait. Despite this funda-
mental disagreement, cooperation between the two states in the Arctic has long been
effective and friendly. In part, this can be attributed to decades of careful diplomacy,
which has strategically set aside the intractable legal questions in favour of a comfortable
‘‘agree-to-disagree’’ arrangement. In the age of MAGA diplomacy under President
Donald Trump, this successful system appears at risk. With discussion of Arctic freedom
of navigation voyages for the US Navy becoming commonplace, and the old diplomatic
safeguards breaking down in favour a new zero-sum foreign policy approach, Canada
may soon face a new challenge to its Arctic sovereignty.
Keywords
Arctic, sovereignty, Donald Trump, Northwest Passage, Canada–US relations
International Journal
2019, Vol. 74(2) 225–239
!The Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0020702019849641
journals.sagepub.com/home/ijx
Corresponding author:
Adam Lajeunesse, Mulroney Institute of Government, St. Francis Xavier University, 5005 Chapel Square,
Antigonish Nova Scotia B2G 2W5, Canada.
Email: alajeune@stfx.ca
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