Canada and the changing Arctic : sovereignty, security, and stewardship /

Sovereignty issues, such as Russia's planting a flag on the Arctic Ocean seafloor, climate change effects such as thinning of sea ice, and increased competition for the Arctic's unexplored oil and gas resources--all have focused attention recently on this important region. This book does a very good job of discussing Canadian perspectives on Arctic change. All authors are specialists on the Arctic, and their white papers critically examine issues of sovereignty, security, and environmental protection, among others. They also make recommendations on what leadership role Canada should play in the Arctic. The authors do have different emphases, and on some issues they disagree. This tension adds interest, at the expense of some repetition. Huebert (Univ. of Calgary, Canada) emphasizes the ways in which control of the Arctic can bring benefits to the country exercising control. The approach of Lackenbauer (history, Univ. of Waterloo, Canada) is to resist alarmist rhetoric about sovereignty and security threats while he focuses on defense, diplomacy, and economic development. Finally, Griffiths (emer., Univ. of Toronto, Canada) stresses interrelations among the eight Arctic powers and interest of non-Arctic states such as China. Conclusions, written by Lackenbauer, discuss the Canadian government's northern strategy of 2009. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduate students, and professionals. G. A. McBeath University of Alaska Fairbanks