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The tug of war at the top of the world
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Norway is pushing to more firmly assert its sovereignty over Svalbard (above) and fend off foreign influence in the cluster of Arctic islands.
PHOTO: EMILE DUCKE: NYTIMES
Jeffrey Gettleman, Sarah Hurtes and Louise Krüger
LONGYEARBYEN, Svalbard – High up in the Arctic, near the North Pole, Svalbard stands alone as a geopolitical unicorn. The cluster of islands is a part of Norway, but is also governed by a unique treaty dating from World War I. It allows just about anyone to take up a life there, visa-free.
For decades, scientists from across the globe alighted at Svalbard’s international research station, set on a dreamy fjord bordered by sharp-toothed mountains. Chinese students zoomed off on snowmobiles with European classmates. Norwegians and Russians held chess tournaments and slurped borscht together when the matches were done.
