GoKawiilUnfrozen: The Fight for the Future of the Arctic Mia Bennett & Klaus Dodds Yale Univ. Press (2025)
From the rising temperatures of the climate crisis to the cooling of relations between Arctic states, metaphors of hot and cold pop up frequently in discussions about the Arctic.
Political geographers Mia Bennett and Klaus Dodds put them to good effect in Unfrozen. The book covers a wide range of subjects, from Indigenous sovereignty to economic development, military infrastructure and scientific research. It is a comprehensive, informative and entertaining account of centuries of climate and geopolitical change in the Arctic, and a look at what the future might hold.
The world just lived through the 11 hottest years on record — what now?
Bennett and Dodds are known for their communication skills, as well as their geopolitical expertise — Bennett’s blog Cryopolitics has long been a reliable resource on polar news and research. They make the complex accessible and the mundane memorable with compelling quotes and anecdotes in a book that will appeal to both the public and Arctic policy wonks alike.
Unfrozen centres on the many ways that this region is “unfreezing” — from melting ice to the heating up of previously cold conflicts, as well as the “unfreezing of norms and expectations around who gets to have a say in the Arctic”. Despite the title, the book spends little time speculating on the long-term future of a completely ice-free Arctic. Rather, Bennett and Dodds expertly guide readers through past, continuing and imminent changes in the region.
Growing threats
The authors highlight three scenarios for the Arctic’s near-term future: an extractive, an endangered and an adversarial Arctic. These visions are not mutually exclusive but they are intertwined, reinforcing why “the Arctic is a useful place to witness how societies and states are negotiating an environmental and geopolitical order”.
Greenland is important for global research: what’s next for the island’s science?
An extractive Arctic is marked by oil and gas development that is spearheaded by Russia and the United States. Bennett and Dodds draw attention to the possibility that extractive activities could economically benefit Indigenous communities in Alaska, Canada and Greenland, potentially improving their political position in the pursuit of sovereignty.
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