Introduction: from ‘the Age of the Arctic’ to ‘the Scramble for the Arctic’ and beyond

‘The Age of the Arctic’ refers to the more prominent strategic role given to the Arctic in the last years of the Cold War and the following expansion of cooperation between Arctic states during the 1990s, especially on Arctic science, environmental protection and indigenous issues. A decade later, Arctic cooperation was seen as an immediate post-Cold War initiative that had failed to spark sustainable high-level political interest. This changed with the planting of a Russian flag on the seabed at the North Pole in 2007 and the ensuing ‘Scramble for the Arctic’ discourse. High-level participation from the member states of the Arctic Council increased, and interest for the Arctic mounted also among non-Arctic states, not least in Asia. Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the Western parties suspended their cooperation with Russia in the Arctic Council and other regional cooperation arrangements in the region. The new Cold War was on.