The Future History of the Arctic: How climate, resources and geopolitics are reshaping the north, and why it matters to the world by Charles Emmerson
| The Future History of the Arctic: How climate, resources and geopolitics are reshaping the north, and why it matters to the world by Charles Emmerson | |
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| Category: History | |
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Reviewer: Luci Davin
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| Summary: An accesible but occasionally dry look at how the history of the Arctic will affect its future. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 432 | Date: March 2011 |
| Publisher: Vintage | |
| ISBN: 978-0099523536 | |
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Charles Emmerson examines the past history of Arctic exploration, economic exploitation and development and the policies of governments of countries which include Arctic territory (and others), with the aim of understanding the present and predicting the future better. He explains the apparently contradictory title in some detail in the Introduction. While history is about the past, ideas about the future have changed over time. Also, the future of the Arctic will be shaped by its history.
Although the author does mention travel and visits to the Arctic, this is not really a travel book; it is about the politics of the region, and the back cover describes it as “Current Affairs/ International Relations”.
For many of us, the idea of Arctic exploration has a lot of romantic associations, about exploring isolated places, seeing polar bears and other wildlife. Arctic exploration only started seriously in the mid 19th century, and picked up pace in the 20th century. (This was about the same time that several European countries were aggressively colonising Africa and other parts of the world, and I think some comparison might have been illuminating here. There are mini-biographies and discussion of the ideas of a number of explorers from various countries. I had heard of Fridjtof Nansen but not of some of the other explorers described, and it was interesting to read not just of their deeds and discoveries, but how they saw those activities, what they thought would or should be the future of the Arctic, what the aims of this exploration were. I was really interested to see how soon the potential of the Arctic as a source of oil and other useful resources to colonising countries develops.
Emmerson then moves on to look at the politics of Arctic exploration and exploitation, particularly in the various countries with Arctic borders and/or territory, including the US, Canada, Russia/the Soviet Union, Finland, Denmark and Norway. Two major issues run through the 345 pages of the narrative section of the book that will shape the future of the Arctic and the rest of the world – climate change and global warming and, very topically at the moment, oil and obtaining a secure supply rather than looking to the oil producers of the Middle East. In the introduction to this paperback edition, the author mentions that there have already been a lot of changes since the hardback came out in early 2010, and of course it would have gone to press before all the current developments in the Middle East began.
The book continues by discussing the politics of the region during the Cold War and since, nature and scientific discovery and research and many other subjects. The narrative is dense and fascinating, packed with detail, comment and thought provoking speculation, and I would like to think that I will return to it in future to reread bits (but that may be wishful thinking).
There is a lot here of value to anyone with an interest in Soviet and Russian history, as for the Soviet Union, Siberia and the Arctic region have been essential as a source of raw materials for industrialisation. The author believes that Stalin's exile to Siberia in Tsarist days informed his views on the importance of the Arctic to the Soviet Union. Of course, development in the Arctic has continued to be important to Russia after Communism and the break up of the Soviet Union.
Emmerson's writing style is very accessible, but of course, given the nature of his subject, there is a lot of factual material packed in, and it can get a bit dry in places. The numbered endnotes run to 45 pages, more than 10 per cent of the book, and many contain far more detail themselves, they are not just citing his sources. I think you could usefully read the book without looking them all up, but you would miss a lot of valuable content.
There are a few maps so readers who find these useful can see some sort of visual representation of how the region and some of the bordering countries with interests there fit together. There are 16 pages of photos including Nansen and another explorer, Stefansson, Josef Stalin, industrial developments such as a natural gas plant. For those studying or doing research, there is a comprehensive and detailed index.
Generally in his writing style, I think the author is attempting to describe things from what he considers to be a very objective position. However, his background includes working for the European Commission and the World Economic Forum, and I think it should be said that his perspective is looking at the threats and opportunities for international capitalism. One telling example of an expression of personal opinion is the first mention of Stalin as a dangerous criminal. I found this an interesting and informative read, which clearly drew on an array of detailed research, and am grateful to Vintage for sending a copy to the Bookbag. However, my favourite books about the Arctic and Siberia, by travel writers such as Sara Wheeler and Dervla Murphy, come from a rather different social/political perspective, and are more open about it.
Sara Wheeler's The Magnetic North: Travels in the Arctic mixes travel writing and reportage with the history of Arctic exploration and some very critical writing about the negative impact of neighbouring countries' government policies towards the region.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Future History of the Arctic: How climate, resources and geopolitics are reshaping the north, and why it matters to the world by Charles Emmerson at Amazon.com.
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