Acknowledgements

Have you ever tried writing a book while on paternity leave with a strong-willed boss-baby named Cornelia? Or reading up on incomprehensible academic theory written half a century ago while a three-year-old Theodora is planning her next scheme to acquire chocolate? I think most academics base their careers on their ability to work at odd hours, having oceans of time to dive into theory and/or nitty gritty empirics, and being in relative solitude when doing so. Alas, this book has been a struggle – perhaps more so than writing my doctoral thesis or any other project I’ve had in academia. Not because I don’t love the ups and downs of fatherhood, but because concentration and plenty of time have become elusive perks. Therefore, I must first and foremost thank my wife, Victoria, not only for support but also for managing the wildcats.

As also outlined in the Preface, this is a book based on work done over a decade as a researcher at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, the High North Center at Nord University, during my PhD work at the University of British Columbia, and my brief stint as a Fulbright grantee at Harvard University Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative. I could thus thank a range of scholars, many of whom are referred to in this book.

For feedback and critique concerning this book and the emphasis on geography, security, regions, region-building, and geopolitics, I must especially thank Arild Moe, Paal Sigurd Hilde, Svein Vigeland Rottem, P. Whitney Lackenbauer, Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, Jennifer Spence, Ole Wæver, Olav Schram Stokke, and Klaus Dodds. They might not agree with my assumptions or conclusions, but they have all given invaluable input and feedback to various aspects of this book. I hope I am able to do the same, not only to senior colleagues such as these, but also for the next generation of scholars engaged with Arctic geopolitics. I must also thank the very constructive feedback I received from the reviewers, as well as from Cambridge University Press editor John Haslam, who provided guidance with this book project as it progressed over several years.

As I am working at an applied research institute concerned with international relations completely dependent on external research funding, I must also acknowledge and thank those who actually funded all the research hours and months spent writing this book. This is primarily the Norwegian Research Council, but also the Norwegian Ministry of Defence and the Norwegian Ministry of Defence. At a time when questions are increasingly being asked about the value of facts, knowledge generation, and academic studies, having the opportunity to dedicate considerable time to connect the various dots of Arctic security and geopolitics is not a given – and very much appreciated. Funding from the Norwegian Research Council (grant number: 343154 / Arctic3D and 345131 / Norwegian Centre for Geopolitics) made it possible for this book to be published open access, making the digital version freely available for anyone to read and reuse under a Creative Commons licence.