Arctic science diplomacy: a case of managing the rise of China

Roundtable with Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen, Professor of Northern Studies and Barents Chair in Politics at the Department of Sociology, Political Science and Community Planning at the University of Tromsø-The Arctic University of Norway.

Arctic science diplomacy: a case of managing the rise of China

The presentation will discuss the Arctic in international systemic change of the end of the Cold War and the return of China and Arctic science diplomacy for managing these systemic transitions. The Arctic has been a part of the international political and economic system for a long time. The North Atlantic and Barents region has supplied fish to Europe during Lent during a millenium. British, French and Russian North America supplied furs to Europe since the 1500s. The Allies and Germany fought for control of the North Atlantic to strangle Britain and cut off the Murmansk convoys. The Arctic was a principal theatre of strategic nuclear weapons systems and early warning during the Cold War. Today, the Arctic is shaped by the two major international systemic events of the last 25+ years, the end of the Cold War and the return of China to the world economy. The continued struggle over the post-Cold War place of Russia in the international system is acute in Caucasus and Eastern Europe as evident in the 2008 Georgia war and the ongoing Ukraine crisis. The Ukraine crisis is also affecting Russian-Western relations in the Arctic. The return of China to its historical relative position in the world economy together with globalization drive power transition from Western states to Eastern states. This power transition is evident in regions around the world, including the Arctic. There is much scientific collaboration in the Arctic between these states. So the Arctic is a suitable region to discuss the potential of science diplomacy for managing power transition.

Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen is a Danish political scientist, who grew up in Iceland and therefore has a deep personal and professional commitment to the North Atlantic and Arctic. He is Professor of Northern Studies and Barents Chair in Politics at the Department of Sociology, Political Science and Community Planning at the University of Tromsø-The Arctic University of Norway. He is a Senior Researcher at Aalborg University and is affiliated to the Public Diplomacy Collaborative (Harvard Kennedy School of Government), the Sino-Danish Center (University of Chinese Academy of Sciences), Institute for Security and Development Policy (Sweden), and the University of Iceland. Rasmus is cand.scient.pol. (BA, MA) from the University of Copenhagen, was Nordplus student at the University of Iceland, holds a DEA (MA) from Université de Genève with Université de Lausanne. He was a Huygens fellow at Universiteit van Amsterdam. His PhD in International Relations is from the University of Cambridge, during which time he spent a year at Sciences Po. He was a postdoc at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs (Harvard Kennedy School of Government), a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science postdoc at Tokyo Institute of Technology and United Nations University-Institute of Advanced Studies (Yokohama) and a postdoc and assistant professor at Aalborg University.

The roundtable is open to the public and free of charge but registration is needed.