Svalbard_ A History and Analysis of NATO's Potential Arctic Frontier Fortress

The Institute of World Politics

About the Lecture The Svalbard Archipelago is a remote collection of Norwegian islands in the Arctic, un-militarized and seemingly unimportant. However, their geographic proximity to Russian military assets in the Arctic make them a potentially valuable strategic asset for NATO, and a source of concern for the Russians, who have engaged in gray zone activities there since the Cold War. In recognition of these facts, NATO should reevaluate its stance on Svalbard and consider turning them into a frontier fortress in an increasingly-important region of the world. About the Speaker Jacob Spencer is a first-year student of strategic intelligence studies at IWP. He studied history at the University of Arkansas at Monticello and spent 9 months teaching English as a foreign language in Uzbekistan. He is fluent in the Russian language and is pursuing a career as an expert on Russian and post-Soviet affairs