Arctic Geopolitics, Media and Power

Annika E Nilsson is a researcher at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Her work focuses on the politics of Arctic change and communication at the science–policy interface. Nilsson was previously at the Stockholm Environment Institute.Miyase Christensen is Professor of Media and Communication Studies at Stockholm University and is an affiliated researcher at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Christensen’s research focuses on environmental communication; technology-social change; and politics of mediation.

'This book is a must read for all interested in the development of the Arctic. Investigating international media and how they frame the understanding of a region that few people have first hand experience of, the analysis adds an often overlooked dimension to the discussion. The Arctic has caught the media's attention as a global narrative, focused on climate change, the 'race for resources' and security, making it difficult for local perspectives that do not fit with preconceived ideas of the region and indigenous peoples to make themselves heard. The book makes its readers aware how this affects the possibility to actually understand the Arctic, which is not first and foremost a region, but a lot of very different localities with each their history and visions for the future.' — Professor Kirsten Thisted, University of Copenhagen, Denmark"With rising temperatures and mounting tension over oil drilling and military expansion, the Arctic is increasingly becoming a geopolitical hotspot. This timely book provides a fascinating account of the complex interlinkages between global economic and political systems and the changing communications landscape. Christensen and Nilsson provide an excellent, much needed, analysis of the role of international media in mediating a diversity of different voices and contested perspectives on the region. The book shows how dominant global frames tend to draw upon old colonial narratives and indigenous local voices often go unheard. This book will be essential reading for students and scholars in Human Geography, Politics, and Media and Communication Studies, as well as those working in the policy field." — Professor Alison Anderson, University of Plymouth, UK

• 1. The regional? Mediation, scale and power 2. Media narratives–media cartographies 3. A circumpolar narrative takes shape 4. Reconstruction and consolidation 5. A post-petroleum region? 6. Arctic geopolitics in times of transformation