The Barents Region and West Nordic Region during European War and East-Asian Crisis

The Barents Region and the West Nordic have for centuries been strongly influenced by international political, economic, security and technological developments. The Arctic reflects the international system. The bipolar Cold War Arctic was divided between Nordic/North American and Soviet Arctic, while post-Cold War US unipolarity and hegemony allowed for a liberal Circumpolar Arctic with the Arctic Council, International Arctic Science Committee, University of the Arctic, Barents Cooperation, etc. Today, the return of China as one of the world’s largest economies and of Russia as a traditional Eurasian great power drive Sino-US confrontation in East Asia and US-Russian confrontation in Europe. These shifts significantly affect the Arctic, and the Barents Region and West-Nordic Region. The US excludes Chinese investment and science from the Nordic and North American Arctic. China focuses large investments on the Russian Arctic. The A7 have paused Arctic Council work and largely severed economic, scientific, and other Arctic ties to Russia in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Barents and West Nordic regions must navigate these immediate circumstances and long-term developments in international order for their political and socio-economic development.