Alexander N. Vylegzhanin – författare

Governing Arctic Seas introduces the concept of ecopolitical regions, using in-depth analyses of the Bering Strait and Barents Sea Regions to demonstrate how integrating the natural sciences, social sciences and Indigenous knowledge can reveal patterns, trends and processes as the basis for informed decisionmaking. This book draws on international, interdisciplinary and inclusive (holistic) perspectives to analyze governance mechanisms, built infrastructure and their coupling to achieve sustainability in biophysical regions subject to shared authority.  Governing Arctic Seas is the first volume in a series of books on Informed Decisionmaking for Sustainability that apply, train and refine science diplomacy to address transboundary issues at scales ranging from local to global.  For nations and peoples as well as those dealing with global concerns, this holistic process operates across a ‘continuum of urgencies’ from security time scales (mitigating risks of political, economic and cultural instabilities that are immediate) to sustainability time scales (balancing economic prosperity, environmental protection and societal well-being across generations).  Informed decisionmaking is the apex goal, starting with questions that generate data as stages of research, integrating decisionmaking institutions to employ evidence to reveal options (without advocacy) that contribute to informed decisions. The first volumes in the series focus on the Arctic, revealing legal, economic, environmental and societal lessons with accelerating knowledge co-production to achieve progress with sustainability in this globally-relevant region that is undergoing an environmental state change in the sea and on land.  Across all volumes, there is triangulation to integrate research, education and leadership as well as science, technology and innovation to elaborate the theory, methods and skills of informed decisionmaking to build common interests forthe benefit of all on Earth.

This seminal book results from a NATO Advanced Research Workshop at the University of Cambridge with Russian co-directorship, enabling the first formal dialogue between NATO and Russia about security issues in the Arctic Ocean.  Involving interdisciplinary participation with experts from 17 nations, including all of the Arctic states, this workshop itself reflects progress in Arctic cooperation and collaboration. Interests now are awakening globally to take advantage of extensive energy, shipping, fishing and tourism opportunities in the Arctic Ocean as it is being transformed from a permanent sea-ice cap to a seasonally ice-free sea.  This environmental state-change is introducing inherent risks of political, economic and cultural instabilities that are centralized among the Arctic states and indigenous peoples with repercussions globally.  Responding with urgency, environmental security is presented as an "integrated approach for assessing and responding to the risks as well as the opportunities generated by an environmental state-change."  In this book – diverse perspectives on environmental security in the Arctic Ocean are shared in chapters from high-level diplomats, parliamentarians and government officials of Arctic and non-Arctic states; leaders of Arctic indigenous peoples organizations; international law advisors from Arctic states as well as the United Nations; directors of inter-governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations; managers of multi-national corporations; political scientists, historians and economists; along with Earth system scientists and oceanographers.  Building on the “common arctic issues” of “sustainable development and environmental protection” established by the Arctic Council – environmental security offers an holistic approach to assess opportunities and risks as well as develop infrastructure responses with law of the sea as the key “international legalframework” to “promote the peaceful uses” of the Arctic Ocean.  With vision for future generations, environmental security is a path to balance national interests and common interests in the Arctic Ocean for the lasting benefit of all.