THE ARCTIC COUNCIL AND THE INUIT CIRCUMPOLAR COUNCIL. GOVERNANCE IN THE ARCTIC REGION

THE ARCTIC COUNCIL AND THE INUIT CIRCUMPOLAR COUNCIL. GOVERNANCE IN THE ARCTIC REGION

This article analyzes the forms of governance in the Canadian Arctic. It relies on two perspectives. First, by looking at the mechanisms of governance in the circumpolar region through the Arctic Council, and second, by analyzing the paradiplomacy of indigenous groups in Canada, particularly the Inuit, through the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC). It explores the ICC”s international actions to promote their identity and cultural practices, but also to defend their economic interests as the original people of the circumpolar world. This article analyzes the fragmentation of the nation-state, and the emergence of non-state actors contesting its supremacy in international relations, leading to new forms of governance. In Canada, indigenous groups such as the Inuit, through the Inuit Circumpolar Council, have regained power and influence, creating new forms of governance in the Arctic.