Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2021

Keywords

Arctic security and stability, Canadian and Circumpolar Arctic

Abstract

The origins of the conference, for which this volume is the published record, go back to the fall of 2019 and the Canadian Pugwash Group’s (CPG’s) annual general meeting. Having just held a major policy conference at the University of Ottawa on “Speeding Towards the Abyss: Contemporary Arms Racing and Global Security,” the CPG was considering what should be the subject of its next policy conference. Arctic security, in all its dimensions, quickly was identified as the theme to pursue. Planning got underway with a view to holding the event in the fall of 2020 and finding suitable partners.

The latter were soon identified in the person of Canada’s foremost Arctic expert, Professor Whitney Lackenbauer, and Trent University as the institutional base. Then COVID-19 intervened to put the kibosh to our tentative timing and our original vision of an in-person gathering.

With considerable resourcefulness, the CPG lead, Peggy Mason, and her team, in close collaboration with Whitney Lackenbauer, pivoted to a virtual format, and partnered with the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network (NAADSN), which Whitney Lackenbauer leads. The Rideau Institute also joined as the third co-sponsor. The organizers recruited a stellar line-up of Canadian Arctic expertise to participate in the conference. In its final form, the conference consisted of six panels featuring two speakers each, covering the full spectrum of Arctic-related issues from climate change to maritime security, and much in between.

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