Arctic War or Arctic Peace? (Part 2 Q&A)

Russia’s annexation of Crimea has called into question the future of Arctic cooperation. After years of working together on pollution prevention, search and rescue, shipping and fisheries management, people are asking: Can we trust Russia to behave differently in the North than it is behaving in the South? Michael Byers has just returned from a term as a Visiting Professor at the University of Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia. His presentation will address the issue of Arctic sovereignty, peace and security in a time of geopolitical tension and rapidly advancing climate change. Speaker: Michael Byers A graduate of Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, Michael Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia. He has been a Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford University, a Professor of Law at Duke University, and a Visiting Professor at the universities of Cape Town, Tel Aviv, Nordland (Norway) and Novosibirsk (Russia). Michael's work focuses on Arctic security, the law of the sea, and Canada-US-Russia relations. He is a project leader with ArcticNet, a Canadian government-funded consortium of scientists from 30 universities. His most recent book is International Law and the Arctic (Cambridge University Press, 2013). A well-known commentator on national and international news stories, Michael is a regular contributor to the Globe and Mail, National Post, and Toronto Star.