Andreas Østhagen
This is the first of five chapters to distinguish between these four different levels, or sets, of political security dynamics in the Arctic. We start with the regional level, as it sets much of the frame for the other two, namely the systemic and the national. A look at the regional Arctic level, or the dynamics amongst the eight Arctic countries in the Arctic, is inherently what much of Arctic studies are concerned with. Thus, the goal of this chapter is to describe the specific regional political dynamics in the Arctic that relate to security and international relations.