Eda Ayaydin, Post-Doc at MIARC and Andreas Raspotnik, Director of the High North Center for Business and Governance at Nord University (Bodø, Norway) published new article about Geopolitics in and outside the Arctic in the Journal E-International Relations.
The Arctic has often been described as exceptional, a region of cooperation rather than conflict, more open than exclusive. However, even before the negative impact of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, this narrative overlooked the increasing role of non-Arctic states in shaping the very meaning and condition of the Arctic. It overlooked the fact that, even though so-called Arctic outsiders lack ‘natural’ Arctic sovereignty – the possession of land, waters and the resources the region contains – they can still have a ‘natural’ interest in the Arctic due the region’s increasing global relevance. To add nuance in how to better conceptualize the regional influence of such outsiders, we introduce the idea of ‘outsider geopolitics’; the ways in which actors from outside the Arctic try to engage with and influence the region, even without ‘formal’ standing as Arctic states. Outsider geopolitics is not about belonging due to natural variables but rather about performing, perceiving, and legitimizing due to action. As such, outsiders often engage through diplomacy, science, or climate advocacy, framing their actions in accordance with regional priorities to gain regional recognition and credibility.
Eda Ayaydin and Andreas Raspotnik: Outsider Geopolitics: To Be, or Not to Be, in the Arctic, in: E-International Relations, 10 July 2025.
