http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee 281 David López Morales Terrae ultima thule: Cooperation in the Artic region at present through the Canadian Arctic; the North Geomagnetic Pole, which centres the earth’s magnetic field and sits today over north-west Greenland; the Northern Pole of Inaccessibility, a magnificently named spot in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska, which represents the point farthest in all directions from land (currently, 684 statute miles from the nearest coast); and there is even a Pole in the sky, the North Celestial Pole, the astronomical extension of a line drawn through the earth’s axis which nearly-but not quite-hits Polaris.”7* And yet there is another North Pole, the Geopolitical North Pole, which, for decades, has led hundreds of explorers to risk almost certain death in the quest to conquer this inaccessible pole and place it under the sovereignty of their State in a peaceful way and within the framework of international law. The situation in the North Pole has changed from one of confrontation during the Cold War to one of cooperation and non-violent disputes over the exploitation of natural resources, jurisdictional issues and the trade opportunities presented by new navigation routes.8 In his book Decisive Moments in History9, Stefan Zweig pointed out that there are a number of moments that can shape and change the fate of a people during the ensuing decades. In the case of the Arctic, it was the speech given by Mikhail Gorbachev in Murmansk in 1987. The then General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union appealed to the common sense of the Arctic nations to make this a nuclear-free zone, a zone of peace and fruitful cooperation where stability and peace are guaranteed.10 Reduced tension following the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, the melting of the Arctic, technological advances in the extraction of resources and the promise of enormous wealth that these hold11, in addition to the opening up of navigation and tourism routes, have undoubtedly contributed to bringing the region closer to what Gorbachev had envisaged. In 1996 an intergovernmental forum (the Arctic Council) was established to promote cooperation and interaction among the Arctic States. This has given rise to numerous reports, working groups and public policy recommendations that have subsequently been implemented by the Arctic States. However, in the current climate of tension, many are wondering whether cooperation in the Arctic will continue or whether it will be affected by the conflicts taking place elsewhere. 7 Ibid, p.25. (*) The italics are the authors. 8 ØSTERUD, Øyvind and HØNNELAND, Geir, “Geopolitics and International Governance in the Arctic”, Arctic Review on Law and Politics, vol. 5, 2, 2014, p.159 9 ZWEIG, Stefan, Momentos estelares de la humanidad. Catorce miniaturas históricas, Acantilado, Barcelona, 2002. 10 GORBACHEV, Mikhail: “Mikhail Gorbachev’s speech in Murmansk at the ceremonial meeting on the occasion of the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star to the city of Murmansk”. Available at: http://www.barentsinfo.fi/docs/Gorbachev_speech.pdf (Accessed on 09-12-2015). 11 In the analytical framework, we will look at estimates of the Arctic’s natural resources.
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