Property Rights and the Arctic Contest

In recent years, the Arctic has returned to the center of public attention: the renewed interest in Greenland, the progressive opening of maritime routes due to ice melt, and the claims over areas like the Svalbard archipelago are clear signals that Arctic policy will remain in the public eye.

Regarding the Svalbard archipelago, located in northern Norway, Eivind Vad Petersson, Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, summed it up to The New York Times1:

• “For too long Svalbard has...