Heather Exner-Pirot

OPINION: Those who warn of the risk of conflict in the Arctic must accept a higher standard of proof for those claims. They must be specific, and provide likely locations, assets, actors and circumstances. They must explain why it is naïve to expect a lack of conflict in a region that has seen none for 75 years. And they must explain not only how Russian could, but why Russia would provoke conflict in the Arctic.

ANALYSIS: While the six Arctic indigenous groups who are Arctic Council permanent participants share most of the same rights and privileges enjoyed by member states, it is plainly obvious that they do not have the same ability to contribute to its work. And this gap has only widened as the work of the Arctic Council has expanded.

When addressing the cycle of violence and sexual abuse, consider that men have also been victims and not just perpetrators, some experts say.

OPINION: If northern communities want jobs and economic self-sufficiency, they should have the same opportunities to achieve it.

Analysis: Don't believe the hype. Despite all evidence to the contrary, The New York Times and its 1.5 million daily readers worldwide seem to believe that the Arctic region is still on the verge of some sort of conflict.

OPINION: A smart government would start providing strategic investments to shrink distances and make innovation transfer to the North happen faster and more efficiently.

A quarter-century ago Monday, Mikhail Gorbachev delivered a speech that would usher in the beginning of the current era of circumpolar cooperation.

How could Canada's Nunavut region be so wealthy and so undeveloped at the same time? The role of federal transfers, that's how.

OPINION: Greenpeace's new "Save the Arctic" campaign is based on the unbalanced idea of the Arctic as virgin, uninhabited territory. The task at hand is not prohibiting development in the region, but ensuring its sustainability.

OPINION: Despite obvious challenges, it's only a matter of time before community greenhouses help solve food security issues in Canada's North. But some community will have to be the guinea pig.

There is growing consensus in the Canadian North that to be healthy and prosperous, communities must reduce dependence on government. Could economic development corporations make Arctic towns more viable?

The next decade's 'Arctic Five' will not include Canada, Russia and the United States – it will be BP, Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, Lukoil and ConocoPhillips.

What can be learned from a remote Canadian community's recent cry for help in light of appalling living conditions?

OPINION: Canada is the only circumpolar nation without a university in its Arctic region, and with the government drastically cutting the school's funding, this remains the case for a variety of reasons.

Some northerners have argued that their communities should have the same level of government services as southerners. But, of course, that is impossible.