The Politics of Observers' Participation in the Arctic Council (Sebastian Knecht, session 6)

Sebastian Knecht from the Free University of Berlin gives an introductory background presentation on the politics of observer participation in the Arctic Council, prior to two panel discussions on the topic.

An accompanying video of the session in which this presentation was given can be found on the Arctic Futures Symposium VIMEO channel https://vimeo.com/147663907 . Mr. Knecht's presentation is introduced at 03:00.

Transcript

1. The Politics of Observer Participation in the Arctic Council Sebastian Knecht Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies (BTS) Freie Universität Berlin The BTS, a joint endeavour of Arctic Futures Symposium 2015 November 18, 2015
2. 1) The Arctic Council will have to find a modus of discussing, and deciding on, applications for observer status on a regular basis. 2) The Arctic Council will have to find ways and means to strengthen observer involvement in the work of the Council. 3) The Arctic Council will have to find ways and means to increase its impact on observers. 2/7 Observer Involvement in the Arctic Council: Challenges ahead
3. 3/7 Development of Actor Categories in the Arctic Council, 1998 - 2015
4. 4/7 “The primary role of observers is to observe the work of the Arctic Council. Observers contribute through their engagement in the Arctic Council primarily at the level of working groups.” (#38 of the Arctic Council Rules of Procedure) Observers in the Work of the Arctic Council Expertise, Knowledge and financial resources, legitimacy Dissemination of and Compliance with AC output Input-dimension Output-dimension -> -> Source: own illustration
5. 5/7 Attendance Records across Actor Categories and Meeting Levels, 1998-2015 Source: own investigation
6. 6/7 Attendance Records for EU across Meeting Levels, 1998-2015 Source: own investigation
7. 7/7 •  Large variance in participation behavior across observer groups and types of meetings •  But: also large variance within each individual observer group (active vs. “nominal members”) •  All actor groups attend Ministerial and SAO meetings the most, while PPs and all observer groups score particularly low in subsidiary body meetings •  Increasing international interest in the work of the Arctic Council results in a growing number of observers, but not in higher participation quotas of each actor group over time Summary
8. Thank you! Contact Sebastian Knecht Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies s.knecht@transnationalstudies.eu
10. 8/11 Participation Quotas in Ministerial Meetings, 1998-2015
11. 9/11 Participation Quotas in Senior Arctic Officials‘ Meetings, 1998-2015 Ministerial Meetings
12. 10/11 Participation Quotas in Working Group Meetings (AMAP, EPPR, PAME, SDWG), 1998-2015 Ministerial Meetings SAO Meetings