International Conference On Arctic Cooperation

Toronto, 26-28 October 1988

A conference of experts on Arctic cooperation, jointly sponsored by Science for Peace and the Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security (CIIPS) is to be held in Toronto from 26 to 28 October 1988. The basic premise of the conference is that the best chance for reducing tension in the Arctic is to build confidence through international scientific and technical cooperation. Participants will include representatives of the northern populations who are most directly affected by Arctic militarization and industrialization, and physical scientists, technical experts, and social scientists with specialized knowledge of issues of importance to the Arctic regions. The conference will be truly international in scope; we are inviting representatives from all of the Arctic countries, namely Canada, Denmark, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the USA and the USSR, and also from Britain, Japan, and West Germany.

The first two days of the conference will be devoted to invited papers and discussion. On the final morning, the main themes of the conference will be drawn together in panel discussions, and specific opportunities for cooperation among the Arctic nations will be examined.

The work of preparing for the conference is being done by a committee chaired jointly by John Dove (SfP Conference Coordinator) and Ron Purver (CIIPS) and including Frank Griffiths (Programme Chairman), George Ignatieff, John Valleau, Jan DeKoning, and Bobbie Weatherley. The programme that has been put together very ably by Frank Griffiths is outlined below.

I The Regional and Global Context

1. Unities of the Arctic Physical Environment

2. Industrialization and its Consequences

3. Militarization and the Aboriginal Peoples

4. Political-military Relations among the Ice States

II The Arms Race and Arms Control

1. Naval Interaction

2. Missile Defences, Cruise Missile and Air Defences

3. Military Doctrines and the Risk of War

4. Confidence-Building Measures

III Scientific Cooperation

1. Global Science and the Arctic; Status and Prospects

2. Ethnoscience and Prevailing Science

3. Knowledge Requirements for Ocean Management

4. Arctic Airborne Pollution and the Greenhouse Effect

5. Exchange of Experience in Arctic Marine Transportation

6. Offshore Oil Exploration

7. Cultural Exchanges

8. Public Health in the Circumpolar North V Conclusions

9. Panel: Opportunities and Constraints on Arctic Cooperation

10. Panel: Interrelations between Non-military Cooperation and Confidence-Building

11. Panel: Agenda for Arctic Cooperation: Specifics