People in Arctic Countries Concerned About Potential Conflict: Survey

Security fears in the Arctic are growing among people from the eight countries that ring the North Pole, a new survey suggests.

The CGS Des Groseilliers, an icebreaker in the Canadian Coast Guard, sits in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, on Aug. 23, 2014. As Canada prepares to hand off leadership of the Arctic Council to the United States this weekend, a new survey suggests security fears are growing among people in Arctic countries. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

IQALUIT, Nunavut—Security fears in the Arctic are growing, suggests a new survey of people from the eight countries that ring the North Pole.

“There is a sense that there is a threat,” said Sara French of the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security program, which conducted the survey of 10,000 people as Canada prepares to hand off leadership of the Arctic Council to the United States this weekend.

The council, which organizes social and environmental research and regulation in the North, has been seen as a model of international cooperation. It has even negotiated a binding international treaty on search and rescue operations.

Many would even like to see Russia excluded from the council.