‘Yet the Place is Fair Enough, Doubt it Not!’ Svalbard in a Tumultuous Arctic Spitsbergen’s western coastline, Svalbard [Photo by Marc Lanteigne] by Marc Lanteigne With record-setting high temperatures being experienced in much of Europe since the month began, the word…

overthecircle.com/2025/07/04/y... The red flags may have been taken down at Pyramiden, but challenges to Norwegian sovereignty in Svalbard, including from Russia, remain.

Canada’s Arctic Choices [Photo by Marc Lanteigne] by Marc Lanteigne ‘Assume nothing’ has became the de facto catchphrase to best describe the upcoming parliamentary elections in Canada, to be held on 28 April. Political f…

overthecircle.com/2025/04/20/c... New this weekend: an OtC post looking how the upcoming Canadian election may affect its #Arctic policies at a fraught time for the region.

Greenland’s Vote, Trump, and the Sovereignty Schism [Photo by Marc Lanteigne] by Marc Lanteigne It was widely predicted in local and international media that this month’s parliamentary elections in Kalaallit Nunaat / Greenland would be the most&nbsp…

overthecircle.com/2025/03/24/g... A new OtC post on the Greenlandic parliamentary elections and the renewal of US annexation stresses.

‘Awake, Chaos: We Have Napped’: Security Order and Disorder in the Arctic Traffic sign in Nuuk. [Photo by Marc Lanteigne] by Marc Lanteigne This year’s Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø began on a hopeful note, (as the city was spared the windstorms which plagued the…

overthecircle.com/2025/02/01/a... As the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø wrapped up, more signs of an unraveling regional security order appear.

‘Meet Me in the Middle’: Iceland’s Next Government Coalesces The Government House (Stjórnarráðshúsið) in Reykjavík [Photo by Marc Lanteigne] by Marc Lanteigne After close to seven years of an unusual left-right coalition governing Iceland, voters on 30 Novem…

overthecircle.com/2024/12/05/m... The recent Icelandic elections were a victory for the opposition parties, but what sort of coalition will be the result?

November drives another nail in the coffin for Arctic cooperation - CRYOPOLITICS The election of a convicted felon to the presidency compounds what has already been a fairly disastrous decade for the world's northernmost region.

www.cryopolitics.com/2024/11/14/n... A new thoughtful commentary in Cryopolitics about the precarious state of #Arctic cooperation.

Oasis No More? Svalbard and Contested Arctic Strategies A bust of Roald Amundsen in the centre of the settlement at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard [Photo by Marc Lanteigne] by Marc Lanteigne Although there remains much conventional wisdom which still considers th…

overthecircle.com/2024/07/01/o... An OtC Long Read from July about how Svalbard is finding itself caught in the growing geopolitical whirlwinds in the Arctic.

Arctic Realpolitik: Germany’s Northern Strategies in a Time of Turning Points [Photo by Marc Lanteigne] by Marc Lanteigne For Germany, debates about the evolution of the country’s foreign and security policies are hardly new, and the ‘modern’ era of those deliberat…

overthecircle.com/2024/09/29/a... From September: OtC comments on the latest Arctic strategy paper from the Government of Germany 🇩🇪.

Norway Cabinet Ally Blocks Deep Sea Mining Licensing Until 2026 The Norwegian government’s plans to open up for mining on the sea floor have been shelved as part of a deal to get its budget through parliament.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article... Norway's SV / Socialist Left Party has just scuttled seabed mining plans by the government. Excellent news for the Arctic environment!

Arctic Circle 2024: Days of Insecurity Harpa Concert Hall, site of the Arctic Circle Assembly [Photo by Marc Lanteigne] by Marc Lanteigne Since 2022, and arguably even before that, security and ‘hard politics’ issues have been grow…

overthecircle.com/2024/11/02/a... OtC was one of the many news sites which covered the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavík last month. What has changed in the far north recently, and what hasn't?

A Sharp Right Turn: The Arctic Faces Trump 2.0 [Photo by Kevin Doyle via Unsplash] by Marc Lanteigne Much of the world is now bracing for yet another period of uncertainty and potential chaos in the wake of the election victory of Donald Trump …

overthecircle.com/2024/11/09/a... In the wake of the recent US election, what might be the aftershocks for Arctic cooperation and potential conflict?

Happy to be here! The Arctic news site Over the Circle is now on Bluesky. OtC looks at politics, economics and environmental issues in the far north.