Iceland review - 2019, Page 14

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Iceland Review
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US
Vice President Mike Pence. Iceland has
also gauged increased interest from China,
not just as a tourism destination but also
as an investment possibility. In light of
US, Russian, and even Chinese interest in
the Arctic, we’ll be taking a closer look at
how international politics might affect the
future of Arctic communities.
Cooperation without borders
The Arctic Council was founded in 1996. It
consists of emissaries from the eight coun-
tries that make up the arctic landmass,
as well as indigenous residents’ organisa-
tions. According to their website, the coun-
cil is the leading intergovernmental forum
promoting co-operation, co-ordination
and interaction among the Arctic states,
Arctic indigenous communities, and other
inhabitants of the Arctic on common
issues, in particular sustainable develop-
ment and environmental protection. While
the Nordic countries have a long history of
cultural exchange and co-operation, the
same cannot be said for the US and Russia.
The result is that while the Arctic Council
is the most important international council
on Arctic issues, certain matters are com-
pletely off the table, including fisheries and
defence.
Chairmanship of the council is shared
between its member countries. Each coun-
try holds the chairmanship for two years,
after which it moves to the next. Iceland
assumed the chairmanship in spring of
2019 and declared its goals to be to con-
tinue the co-operation, sustainability, and
stability of the area.
For over two decades, the Arctic Council
has been the scene of highly important
negotiations that make extremely dull
headlines: the drafting of regulations and
making of deals necessary to ensure the
prospects of the area. One example is
the Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants or the Minamata
Convention on Mercury. Now international
interest in the area is increasing, but that’s
not necessarily in the best interest of the
people who inhabit it. To put it bluntly,
the Arctic is too important, ecologically
speaking, to become a monetary or a mili-
tary bone of contention between powerful
nations.
While Russia has long been poised as
the yin to the US’s yang in international
politics, Russia’s interest and activity in
the north Atlantic has long been a known
quantity. China’s interest is newer, and if
US Vice Presidents Pence’s recent Iceland
visit is anything to go by, it’s more of a
concern to the US than their old foes in
Moscow. Pence remarked on the occa-
sion that the US was happy with Iceland’s
decision to decline participation in the Belt
and Road Initiative, a Chinese infrastruc-
ture investment project. In fact, both
Iceland’s Prime Minister and the Minister
for Foreign affairs corrected the Vice
President as Iceland hasn’t made any deci-
sion to either participate or decline as yet.
Pence also warned Icelanders not to rely
on the technology of the Chinese company
Huawei, but there has been speculation
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