Future of Arctic resource allocation promising

“What about the rest of the North?” asked McGeorge Bundy, president of the Ford Foundation, back in the 1970s while considering yet one more grant to help the troubled Native Americans of Alaska. The initial reaction of a young staffer asked to research the question was that the boss was making some reference to the Civil War.

“What about the rest of the North?” asked McGeorge Bundy, president of the Ford Foundation, back in the 1970s while considering yet one more grant to help the troubled Native Americans of Alaska. The initial reaction of a young staffer asked to research the question was that the boss was making some reference to the Civil War.

That was not his point, nor was he talking about the global contrast between rich and poor nations, described in terse terminology as the “North-South Divide.” Instead, Mac Bundy was referring to the Arctic Circle, and asking whether geographic unity and climate uniformity was reflected in similarity of challenges to public policies.
Today, global warming and dramatic melting of polar ice urgently underscore the vital importance of the region. The Obama administration has not given priority to this aspect of our complex environmental challenges, but other nations are showing leadership.
Two just concluded international conferences provide promising evidence that we can handle complex challenges of allocating resources, including those of the Arctic, in transnational terms.