Lassi Heininen is Professor of Arctic Politics at the University of Lapland, Finland; Heather Exner-Pirot is
Strategist for Outreach and Indigenous Engagement, University of Saskatchewan, Canada; & Joël Plouffe is
PhD candidate at the
École nationale d'administration publique (ENAP), Canada.
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From Regional Transition to Global Change:
Dualism in the Arctic
An Introduction to the Arctic Yearbook 2013
Lassi Heininen, Heather Exner-Pirot & Joël Plouffe
Regionalization, globalization and nationalism cannot be assessed in isolation, independently from one another, nor
from a perspective of either convergence or divergence among them. Rather, globalization, regionalization, and
nationalism should be captured and studied as forces relative to and overlapping one another, sometimes antagonistic
and sometimes cooperative toward each other, but never harmonious.
- Arie Kacowicz
The Arctic region seems to be in constant transformation, (geo)politically, economically, culturally
and indeed geologically and environmentally. But as we continue to witness significant changes
across the Arctic, it is important to remember those political processes and forces in which the
events, issues and debates of the region have been evolving over the last decades. The Arctic
Yearbook 2013 seeks to identify and assess both historical contexts and contemporary
issues/events in a way to better understand and discuss Arctic geopolitics and security.
Arctic Change(s)
In the last century, the Arctic region – or the circumpolar North – was characterised as either a
colonial-like marginalized periphery to major powers and imperial centres located more in South
and/or a mosaic of homelands to indigenous peoples with their unique identities (Heininen, 2010).