With brewing tensions over American threats to annex Greenland, Declan sits down with Dr. Paal Sigurd Hilde to discuss its importance to Arctic security and what this means for NATO. Dr. Hilde is a professor and researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies. His research focuses on Arctic defence policy, NATO, and Nordic and international defence cooperation. He presented at Carleton University on the complex history of NATO in the Arctic.

Further Reading:

Jacobsen, Marc, Ole Wæver, and Ulrik Pram Gad. Greenland in Arctic Security: (De)securitization Dynamics under Climatic Thaw and Geopolitical Freeze. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2024. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/book.119444.

Tamnes, Rolf. The United States and the Cold War in the High North. Dartmouth: University of Michigan Press, 1991.

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The Canadian government has recently called for NATO to “devote more focus to defence in the Arctic”. In the lecture, Professor Paal Hilde from the Norwegian Defence University College will outline the history of the Arctic’s place in NATO deterrence and defence and give his thoughts on the opportunities and challenges for further engagement of the Alliance in the region. Dr. Paal Sigurd Hilde is a professor of war studies at the Institute for Defence Studies (IFS), which is part of the Norwegian Defence University College. He earned his DPhil at the University of Oxford in 2003. His main research interests include Norwegian security and defence, NATO and Arctic security. Paal has worked on policy planning and NATO at the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, led the secretariat of two government-appointed commissions and is, amongst others, the inaugural Norway Chair at the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies.

EETN Event: NATO at a Crossroads: Present Challenges and Future Trajectories

Hosted in partnership between the EETN, Carleton University, and the NATO Association of Canada, this event brings together academics and policymakers to examine NATO’s current challenges and future trajectory in light of shifting global security dynamics. Discussions will focus on the war in Ukraine, renewed great-power competition, the crisis of arms control, and debates over burden-sharing and European strategic autonomy. By combining scholarly and policy perspectives, the event will explore the alliance’s evolving role in transatlantic security and its implications for member states, including Canada’s commitments to defence modernization, Arctic security, and collective deterrence.

Panel 1: Academic Perspectives

• Dr. Benjamin Zyla (Professor, University of Ottawa)
• Dr. Christian Leuprecht (Professor, Royal Military College and Queen’s University)
• Dr. David Sichinava (Adjunct Research Professor; Carleton University)
• Dr. Ann Fitz-Gerald (Professor and Director of the Balsillie School of International Affairs)
• Dr. Luca Ratti (Professor; University of Rome III, joining remotely)
• Dr. Mihai Sebe (Lecturer, University of Bucharest and Head of the European Affairs Department; European Institute of Romania, joining remotely)
• Dr. Antonia Colibasanu (Senior Fellow; Foreign Policy Research Institute, joining remotely)

Panel 2: Policy Perspectives

• Kerry Lynn Nankivell (Director, NATO and Europe, ADM(Pol), Department of National Defence)
• H.E. Witold Dzielski (Ambassador; Embassy of Poland)
• Eric Laporte (Executive Director; Global Affairs Canada)
• BGen (retired) Scott McKenzie (Director General, Canadian Joint Operations Command)