The Future History of the Arctic
by Charles Emmerson

'For most of us the Arctic is, above all, an idea. It cannot be mapped, it can only be described. Cold, isolation, emptiness, white, pristine—these are the words it evokes; these are the preconceptions through which we filter all subsequent information about it. Yet many of those preconceptions— the same ones which, as a child, drew me towards the Arctic— are wrong.'Always lingering at the margins of global affairs and at the edge of our mental map, the Arctic has now found its way to the centre of the issues which will challenge and define our world in the twenty-first century: energy security and the struggle for natural resources, climate change and its uncertain speed and consequences, the return of great power competition and the remaking of global trade patterns.In The Future History of the Arctic, geopolitics expert Charles Emmerson weaves together the history of the region with reportage and reflection, revealing a vast and complex area of the globe, loaded with opportunity and rich in challenges. We travel with him from the oil-fields of Prudhoe Bay to the shores of Greenland, from the northernmost settlement on earth to the militarised borderlands of northern Norway. And along the way we meet diplomats, spies, businessmen, oil-workers, fishermen, politicians and scientists.The Arctic is coming of age. This engrossing book tells the story of how that is happening and how it might happen—through the stories of those who live there, those who study it, and those who will determine its destiny.

Reviews

This engrossing book will fascinate would-be explorers, foreign policy buffs and all those who care about our global environment. Charles Emmerson shows why the world’s ice cap is where much of our world’s future history will be written
Chris Patten, Chancellor of Oxford University, Chairman of the International Crisis Group; Former European Union Commissioner for External Affairs 

Deeply insightful...His account is always clear-headed and elegant, weaving an extraordinary range of subjects into a compelling narrative
Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum 

A fascinating, personal and visionary book. Splendid
Lord Nicholas Stern