Mia Bennett

Tourism promoters in Russia and elsewhere see economic opportunity in luxury Arctic cruising, which already attracts passengers willing to pay up to $50,000 for berth space.

Ousted Conservative leader Stephen Harper put great emphasis on Canada's Arctic ambitions. Whether Justin Trudeau will pay as much attention to the Arctic remains unclear.

While other Asian nation's seek to import Arctic oil and gas, Singapore is not as interested in importing the region’s natural resources as it is in exporting its own technologies to help develop them. Meanwhile the strategically situated port city eyes the future prospect of Arctic shipping as a potential threat.

The Russian leader is centralizing power, taking back authority that had previously been delegated to far-flung regions of the "supergiant" nation.

Musk oxen provide meat for dinner tables, hair for weaving looms and targets for big-spending trophy hunters.

By having an Arctic ambassador, Japan is demonstrating its commitment to remain involved in polar affairs, as well as make the island nation's policies in the Arctic more coherent.

Canada's emphasis on developing the Arctic for the benefit of the region's residents comes at a time when many countries are looking to foreign investors.

Denmark's Arctic ambassador reiterated his country's advocacy of increasing the number of Arctic Council permanent observers, even including nations that sit outside the region.

At their fifth meeting in nine months, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg talked about energy issues, including cooperation in the Arctic.

You can't get much farther away from the Arctic than Australia. But the two regions have much in common, both in the challenges they face and their resource potential.

ANALYSIS: The U.S. will chair the Arctic Council beginning in 2015, after Canada. Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, speaking at the Arctic Frontiers conference, said America should build a "lasting legacy of safety at sea."

UPDATED ANALYSIS: A new map that re-envisions the Arctic, doesn't mention the current "Arctic 5" -- the U.S., Canada, Norway, Denmark or Russia -- but more closely resembles a map of Arctic indigenous peoples.

World leaders and titans of natural resource industries have converged in Norway to discuss mining and climate change, increased shipping and the possibility for militarization at the top of the globe.

Deepwater ports and transcontinental railways are under construction to make Russia the Arctic's international capital of industry. The Northern Route will ultimately connect Rotterdam to Tokyo and all major ports of Asian commerce in-between.

ANALYSIS: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree creating a new environmental buffer zone around Wrangel Island in the Arctic. What does it mean for Arctic diplomacy?