The United States is an Arctic country on account of Alaska, which has for almost 50 years been a major domestic source of oil and natural gas, facilitated by the extensive Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. Alaska has thus been critical for US energy security, as well as national defense due to its close proximity to Russia. However, despite popular perceptions and controversial projects such as Willow, the dominance of the oil industry in Alaska has declined in recent years. Dr. Philip Wight, assistant professor at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and an expert on Alaska’s energy infrastructure, joins the podcast to discuss an array of issues related to Alaska and the Arctic, including the changing role of oil in the state’s political economy, environmental concerns connected to the extraction of energy and mineral resources, the importance of the massive military presence in the state, and the enduring tensions between Alaska and the US federal government. He also provides a comparison between Alaska and other sub-regions in the circumpolar North.
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From the Barents Sea to the Bering Strait: Arctic geopolitics at the regional and local levels
Northern Flank: Arctic-Baltic security interconnections since the NATO accession of Sweden and Finland
Ian Bremmer on Antarctica and the geopolitics of the polar regions
Sustainable development, community resilience and regional security in a globally connected Arctic with Anu Fredrikson, Executive Director of Arctic Frontiers
Data cable crossroad or circumpolar chokepoint: The geopolitics of subsea infrastructure in the Arctic
Russia, security and the effects of NATO enlargement in the Arctic
Nuclear risks from Kakhovka Dam destruction and enduring issues surrounding Soviet-era energy infrastructure
World stages: Arctic megaconferences as platforms for governance and geopolitical performance
Insights on Antarctic governance and geopolitics with former CCAMLR chair Jakob Granit
Inside the Arctic Council pause with Finland’s Arctic Ambassador Petteri Vuorimäki
Looking North for Renewables: Arctic solutions to Europe’s green transition
Arctic Politics present and past: Prof. Oran Young reflects on governance, Gorbachev and the current Arctic Council crisis
Arctic Council in Crisis: Russia and the governance of the Polar regions in the aftermath of Ukraine
Arctic, Baltic and Beyond: Geopolitics, security and the spectre of a new Cold War
Casualties of War? Arctic and Antarctic cooperation and the future of the liberal international order with Prof. Klaus Dodds
Geopolitical spillover: Analyzing the Arctic implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Camp Century, the US Army’s under-ice Arctic base: A story of Cold War--and contemporary—geopolitics in Greenland
EU Arctic Policy and Geopolitics with Amb. Michael Mann
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