Introduction

A domestic political consensus on prioritizing the Arctic in Iceland's foreign and security policy reflects awareness that the emerging territorialization of the region will refocus geopolitical attention on the north. To be sure, there are no illusions about Iceland recapturing its former role as a Cold War prize. But Iceland's approach is based on its strategic location, for material rewards, and Arctic identity politics. This is not to say that multilateral aspects of the Arctic, such as environmental protection, the rights of so-called indigenous people, or international legal norms have been sidelined. There is, indeed, a tension between the north as a high-stakes resource base and a geopolitical arena, on the one hand, and as an ecological frontier to be regulated by an international regime, on the other hand. On balance, however, the strategic dimension has been given more weight as a result of the growing geopolitical importance of the Arctic because of climate change and the prospects for a seasonal ice-free Arctic; the geopolitics of natural resources; the jurisdictional division of the Arctic Ocean's outer continental shelf; and the prospects of the opening of new sea lanes.