Barry Zellen
Barry Scott Zellen is a research scholar specializing in geopolitics, IR theory, and the tribal dimensions of world politics with regional interest in the Arctic and Pacific. He presently holds appointments as a Research Scholar at the University of Connecticut (2018-present) and a Senior Fellow (Arctic Security) at the Institute of the North (2012-present).
His early research and writing covers the Western Arctic region, where he resided for over a decade (1989-2000). In more recent years, his research focus has expanded beyond the Arctic to include the Asia-Pacific region, from Hokkaido to Borneo, where he continues to comparatively examine the evolving relationship between indigenous peoples and the modern state, and the evolution of sovereignty from traditional Westphalian conceptions to a more collaborative state-tribe synthesis. In addition to the hundreds of articles he has written, Zellen has authored or edited over a dozen books in Arctic, indigenous and strategic studies.
Zellen has 13 books now in print - 4 on the Arctic, and 9 on war and strategy: In 2010, his four-volume treatise on realism was published: The Realist Tradition in International Relations: Foundations of Western Order (PSI). It explores how realism forms a bond linking political philosophers, strategic thinkers, and IR theorists across the ages, a tradition he calls constructive realism. Next to press (2011) was State of Doom: Bernard Brodie, the Bomb, and the Birth of the Bipolar World; followed by The Art of War in an Asymmetric World: Strategy for the Post-Cold War Era (2012) , and State of Recovery: The Quest to Restore American Security after 9/11 (2013) - all with Continuum Books, now part of Bloomsbury). His edited volume, The Fast-Changing Arctic: Rethinking Arctic Security for a Warmer World, came to press in 2013 (University of Calgary Press), followed in 2014 by his co-edited Culture, Conflict and Counterinsurgency (Stanford University Press). Next out in 2015 was Land, Indigenous People, and Conflict (Routledge), co-edited with Alan C. Tidwell of Georgetown University.
He served as a senior fellow at the Center for Australia, New Zealand & Pacific Studies (CANZPS) from 2012-18 at Georgetown University; a senior fellow (Arctic Security) at the Institute of the North (ION, 2012-present); a researcher at the Kone Foundation (2016-18); adjunct research associate professor, Department of Transnational Studies (SUNY Buffalo, 2017-20); Class of 1965 Arctic Scholar, Center for Arctic Study and Policy (CASP) at CGA (2019-22), and Fulbright Scholar at the Polar Law Centre, University of Akureyri (UNAK) in 2020. He also served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) in 2012-14, and as Program Co-Chair, Arctic and Northern Section, Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) in 2016-21. He also served as editor (aka 'Web Commando') of the Strategic Insights journal (2008-10) and Culture & Conflict Review (2009-12) at the Naval Postgraduate School as well as webmaster for the Department of National Security Affairs, and as Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Correspondent (2001-09) and International Arctic Correspondent (2022-present) at Intersec: The Journal of International Security.
Supervisors: Dr. Peter Lavoy, Naval Postgraduate School, Dr. Kenneth Waltz, University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Gene Sharp, The Albert Einstein Institution, Dr. Herbert Kelman, Harvard University, Dr. Julian Reid, and University of Lapland
His early research and writing covers the Western Arctic region, where he resided for over a decade (1989-2000). In more recent years, his research focus has expanded beyond the Arctic to include the Asia-Pacific region, from Hokkaido to Borneo, where he continues to comparatively examine the evolving relationship between indigenous peoples and the modern state, and the evolution of sovereignty from traditional Westphalian conceptions to a more collaborative state-tribe synthesis. In addition to the hundreds of articles he has written, Zellen has authored or edited over a dozen books in Arctic, indigenous and strategic studies.
Zellen has 13 books now in print - 4 on the Arctic, and 9 on war and strategy: In 2010, his four-volume treatise on realism was published: The Realist Tradition in International Relations: Foundations of Western Order (PSI). It explores how realism forms a bond linking political philosophers, strategic thinkers, and IR theorists across the ages, a tradition he calls constructive realism. Next to press (2011) was State of Doom: Bernard Brodie, the Bomb, and the Birth of the Bipolar World; followed by The Art of War in an Asymmetric World: Strategy for the Post-Cold War Era (2012) , and State of Recovery: The Quest to Restore American Security after 9/11 (2013) - all with Continuum Books, now part of Bloomsbury). His edited volume, The Fast-Changing Arctic: Rethinking Arctic Security for a Warmer World, came to press in 2013 (University of Calgary Press), followed in 2014 by his co-edited Culture, Conflict and Counterinsurgency (Stanford University Press). Next out in 2015 was Land, Indigenous People, and Conflict (Routledge), co-edited with Alan C. Tidwell of Georgetown University.
He served as a senior fellow at the Center for Australia, New Zealand & Pacific Studies (CANZPS) from 2012-18 at Georgetown University; a senior fellow (Arctic Security) at the Institute of the North (ION, 2012-present); a researcher at the Kone Foundation (2016-18); adjunct research associate professor, Department of Transnational Studies (SUNY Buffalo, 2017-20); Class of 1965 Arctic Scholar, Center for Arctic Study and Policy (CASP) at CGA (2019-22), and Fulbright Scholar at the Polar Law Centre, University of Akureyri (UNAK) in 2020. He also served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) in 2012-14, and as Program Co-Chair, Arctic and Northern Section, Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) in 2016-21. He also served as editor (aka 'Web Commando') of the Strategic Insights journal (2008-10) and Culture & Conflict Review (2009-12) at the Naval Postgraduate School as well as webmaster for the Department of National Security Affairs, and as Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Correspondent (2001-09) and International Arctic Correspondent (2022-present) at Intersec: The Journal of International Security.
Supervisors: Dr. Peter Lavoy, Naval Postgraduate School, Dr. Kenneth Waltz, University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Gene Sharp, The Albert Einstein Institution, Dr. Herbert Kelman, Harvard University, Dr. Julian Reid, and University of Lapland
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NESTVAL 2018 CONFERENCE THEME: GEOGRAPHIES OF RESILIENCE
Whether the path forward is enduring exceptionalism, or the collapse of a peaceful, cooperative Arctic order, depends much on the willingness of new Arctic stakeholders to uphold the collaborative commitments embraced by Arctic states and indigenous peoples who established trust and cooperation through the creation of joint-governing mechanisms at multiple levels of governance and (to varying degrees) in multiple Arctic states, such as the many co-management land and resource regimes that were established after indigenous land claims were settled across Arctic North America between 1971 (Alaska) and 2005 (Nunatsiavut/Labrador). While the Arctic Council’s member states and its indigenous permanent participants reflect, to a large measure, the original parties to the co-management process that took root in Arctic North America largely through or indirectly catalyzed by land claims negotiations and settlements, recent years have witnessed a proliferation in the number of observer states and organizations that now participate in Council meetings and on its working groups from well outside the Arctic.
There is much potential for North-South partnerships as Arctic globalization continues, with technology, innovation, and markets ffar outside the region fostering future growth; but in order for this potential to be realized, knowledge of and respect for these many localized systems of co-management is essential. By embracing co-management, and navigating the complex administrative landscape of the post-land claims Arctic with humility and respect, non-Arctic states will find enthusiastic partners in villages from one end of the Arctic to the other, and through the mutuality of collaboration, enjoy the reciprocity of what Jamie Snook et al. have called the “shared space” of co-management. This will build trust, and smooth relations not only with native communities and local/regional levels of governance in Arctic North America, but also with the national agencies and departments that participate equally in co-managing their northern territories, and which retain final decision-making authority. By embracing this deep-rooted commitment to cooperation, and respecting not only the structures of co-management but the underlying philosophy they represent – of a pan-Arctic commitment to collaborative Arctic sovereignty that provides a foundation for Arctic exceptionalism – the widening ecosystem of non-Arctic states and non-state entities with Arctic interests will find many enthusiastic partners in the North.
Barry Scott Zellen is the Fulbright scholar in Polar law at the Faculty of Law, University of Akureyri, Spring 2020. He specializes in Arctic geopolitics, international relations and tribe-state relations. See more at barryzellen.com
NESTVAL 2018 CONFERENCE THEME: GEOGRAPHIES OF RESILIENCE
Whether the path forward is enduring exceptionalism, or the collapse of a peaceful, cooperative Arctic order, depends much on the willingness of new Arctic stakeholders to uphold the collaborative commitments embraced by Arctic states and indigenous peoples who established trust and cooperation through the creation of joint-governing mechanisms at multiple levels of governance and (to varying degrees) in multiple Arctic states, such as the many co-management land and resource regimes that were established after indigenous land claims were settled across Arctic North America between 1971 (Alaska) and 2005 (Nunatsiavut/Labrador). While the Arctic Council’s member states and its indigenous permanent participants reflect, to a large measure, the original parties to the co-management process that took root in Arctic North America largely through or indirectly catalyzed by land claims negotiations and settlements, recent years have witnessed a proliferation in the number of observer states and organizations that now participate in Council meetings and on its working groups from well outside the Arctic.
There is much potential for North-South partnerships as Arctic globalization continues, with technology, innovation, and markets ffar outside the region fostering future growth; but in order for this potential to be realized, knowledge of and respect for these many localized systems of co-management is essential. By embracing co-management, and navigating the complex administrative landscape of the post-land claims Arctic with humility and respect, non-Arctic states will find enthusiastic partners in villages from one end of the Arctic to the other, and through the mutuality of collaboration, enjoy the reciprocity of what Jamie Snook et al. have called the “shared space” of co-management. This will build trust, and smooth relations not only with native communities and local/regional levels of governance in Arctic North America, but also with the national agencies and departments that participate equally in co-managing their northern territories, and which retain final decision-making authority. By embracing this deep-rooted commitment to cooperation, and respecting not only the structures of co-management but the underlying philosophy they represent – of a pan-Arctic commitment to collaborative Arctic sovereignty that provides a foundation for Arctic exceptionalism – the widening ecosystem of non-Arctic states and non-state entities with Arctic interests will find many enthusiastic partners in the North.
Barry Scott Zellen is the Fulbright scholar in Polar law at the Faculty of Law, University of Akureyri, Spring 2020. He specializes in Arctic geopolitics, international relations and tribe-state relations. See more at barryzellen.com