The overarching question imparting urgency to this exploration is: Can U.S.-Russian contention in cyberspace cause the two nuclear superpowers to stumble into war? In considering this question we were constantly reminded of recent comments by a prominent U.S. arms control expert: At least as dangerous as the risk of an actual cyberattack, he observed, is cyber operations’ “blurring of the line between peace and war.” Or, as Nye wrote, “in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program’s user.”
A timely exploration of rapidly evolving geopolitical, social, and environmental challenges for national and international security strategy across the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions.
Geopolitics and climate change now have immediate consequences for national and international security interests across the Arctic and Antarctic. The world’s polar regions are contested and strategically central to geopolitical rivalry. At the same time, rapid political, social, and environmental change presents unprecedented challenges for governance, environmental protection, and maritime operations in the regions.
With chapters that raise awareness, address challenges, and inform policy options, Polar Cousins reviews the state of strategic thinking and options on Antarctica and the Southern Oceans in light of experience in the circumpolar North. Prioritizing strategic issues, it provides an essential discussion of geostrategic thinking, strategic policy, and strategy development.
Featuring contributions from international defence experts, scientists, academics, policymakers, and decisionmakers, Polar Cousins offers key insights into the challenges unique to the polar regions.
With contributions by: Brenda Dunkle, Roger Bradbury, Joe Burton, Douglas Causey, Lassi Heininen, Randy “Church” Kee, Ilan Kelman, Timo Koivurova, Peter Layton, Christian Leuprecht, Dwayne Ryan Menzes, Heather Nicol, AJ (Tony) Press, Joanna Vince, and Robin Warner
Douglas Causey is an Associate of the Belfer Center's Arctic Initiative, Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and Principal Investigator of the DHS Arctic Domain Awareness Center of Excellence. Previously, he was Senior Fellow of the Belfer Center and Senior Biologist at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. From 1995-2000, Doug represented the National Science Foundation (NSF) at organizational meetings leading to the formation of the Arctic Council and was NSF's Arctic Representative during the Gore-Chernomyrdin negotiations on US-Russian Science Policy.
An ecologist and evolutionary biologist by training, he has authored over two hundred publications on topics as diverse as the ecology of Arctic marine birds, high Arctic coastal systems, and bat-borne diseases. He has published extensively on policy issues related to the Arctic environment, Arctic environmental security, and bioterrorism and public health. His current environmental research examines the environmental correlates of climate change in the Arctic upon birds and mammals, its consequential impact on local and Indigenous people, and zoonotic disease. He and his students are actively conducting research in the Aleutian Islands, the northern Bering Sea, and Northwestern Greenland. He is co-lead of the Coastal Environment and People Working Group of the NSF-funded Greenland Ice Sheet Ocean (GRISO) Science Network
His research with the Belfer Center focuses on the detailed examination of the nature of national and international security issues associated with the rapid environmental change in the Arctic.
Christian Leuprecht (Ph.D, Queen’s) is Class of 1965 Professor in Leadership, Department of Political Science and Economics, Royal Military College and Eisenhower Fellow at the NATO Defence College in Rome.
He is cross-appointed, Department of Political Studies and the School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University, where he is affiliated with both, the Queen’s Centre for International and Defence Policy and the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, and Adjunct Research Professor, Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security, Charles Sturt University as well as the Centre for Crime Policy and Research, Flinders University.
A recipient of RMC’s Cowan Prize for Excellence in Research and an elected member of the College of New Scholars of the Royal Society of Canada, he is also Munk Senior Fellow in Security and Defence at the Macdonald Laurier Institute.
An expert in security and defence, political demography, and comparative federalism and multilevel governance, he has held visiting positions in North America, Europe, and Australia, and is regularly called as an expert witness to testify before committees of Parliament. He holds appointments to the board of two new research institutes funded by the German government, including the German Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies.
