The Arctic of the Regions
| DOI | 10.1177/002070201106600418 |
| Date | 01 December 2011 |
| Published date | 01 December 2011 |
| Author | Antoine Dubreuil |
| Subject Matter | IV. Subnational Governments |
| International Journal | Autumn 2011 | 923 |
Antoine Dubreuil is a PhD candidate at Panthéon-Assas (Paris 2) University, France.
Antoine Dubreuil
The Arctic of the
regions
Between indigenous peoples and subnational entities—Which
perspectives?
The Arctic is usually seen nowadays through a security lens, with an Arctic
race in progress between the five Arctic coastal states who seek to secure their
access to potential natural resources or future sea routes as they become ice-
free due to climate change and global warming. It seems, however, that the
Arctic of the regions is mostly absent, even forgotten, in debates about the
future of the Arctic.
In order to address this we can start by recognizing that the Arctic can
be understood from a range of different vantage points. From a physical
point of view, three main definitions can be used. First, the Arctic could be
defined as the area within the Arctic circle (66° north). Second, the Arctic
could be defined as the area above the tree line. Third, the Arctic could be
defined as the area where the average temperature for the warmest month
(July) is below 10°C. The Arctic can also be defined politically, in the sense of
the Arctic Council, with eight states constituting the area: Russia, the United
States, Canada, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. It could
also be seen as the area of the coastal Arctic five: Russia, the US, Norway,
Denmark, and Canada.
| 924 | Autumn 2011 | International Journal |
| Antoine Dubreuil |
The indigenous Arctic is far different and larger. Indigenous
geography reflects another aspect of the Arctic—the human dimension.
The main indigenous peoples number about four million individuals and
are represented by six associations, which are also members of the Arctic
Council: the Aleut, the Athabaskans, the Gwich’in, the Inuit, the Sami, and
the various small-numbered Russian peoples.
The Arctic of the regions is composed of a set of subnational Arctic
entities. This article pursues two parallel goals: presenting a political overview
of indigenous peoples with emphasis on their relations with both regions
and central states, and the statuses and political relations at work between
Arctic regions and their respective central states.1 A clear distinction must
be made between two notions that are linked but that cover two different
realities: the term “region” will be used for a political subnational entity,
while the term “indigenous” will be used to depict peoples living in those
areas. For a clearer analysis, subnational entities and indigenous peoples
will be treated one after another both internally and internationally, but a
proper overview requires us to consider indigenous peoples in their regional
context. I will take three criteria into account—subnational relations,
indigenous peoples, and international outcomes—to analyze Arctic regions
and to show how relevant they are. How is the emergence of Arctic regions,
expressing common indigenous concerns, challenging Arctic states? Taking
the major geographical bounds as our point of departure, i.e., the Russian,
the European, and the North-American Arctic, we will evaluate the depth
of regional impact on national Arctic policies.2 We will show that diverse
regional situations do not exclude a convergence between indigenous
peoples’ interests, although they apparently have a relatively weak regional
impact on Arctic states’ policies.
THE RUSSIAN ARCTIC
Russia is the major country in the Arctic, with a coastline covering roughly
half of the Arctic Ocean. It is composed of 83 federal entities. Those entities
1 See, inter alia, David C. Hawkes, “Indigenous peoples: Self-government and
intergovernmental relations,” International Social Science Journal 53, no. 167 (2001):
153-61; for a security approach, see Antoine Dubreuil, “L’Arctique au défi de la sécurité
humaine et sociétale,” Points de Mire 12, 3 March 2011.
2 Kathrin Wessendorf, An Indigenous Parliament? Realities and Perspectives in Russia
and the Circumpolar North (Copenhagen, International Work Group for Indigenous
Affairs in cooperation with the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the
North: 2005).
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