Monday, April 1, 2024

Arctic Security & the Urgency of Understanding Actorless Threats

An talk with the Institute of Arctic Studies

Overview

This talk will explore the Arctic as a case study of the intersection of actorless threats-- such as climate change and ecological upheaval-- with conventional threats posed by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and tensions with China. Climate change is commonly referred to as a threat multiplier because of the way it intersects with already existing vulnerabilities to exacerbate fragility. The Arctic is warming up to four times faster than the global average with immense implications for global security due to its outsized potential to contribute to sea level rise, extreme weather, and biosecurity hazards, among other hazards. However, the nature of actorless threats differs in significant ways from actor-based threats, and as such demands a different analytical lens in order to effectively address the dimension of risk they pose.

Marisol Maddox

Marisol Maddox is a Senior Arctic Analyst at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and an Operational Research Analyst at PolArctic, LLC. She is an adjunct professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School where she teaches an Executive Masters course on Environmental Security.

Ms. Maddox's research considers the Arctic nexus of climate change, security, and geopolitics. She is particularly interested in convergence, and how the growing presence of actorless threats-- such as climate change and biodiversity loss-- interplays with traditional security challenges and strategic thinking.

Ms. Maddox is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a non-resident research fellow at the Center for Climate & Security. She regularly teaches at the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies and the Geneva Center for Security Policy.

Ms. Maddox previously contributed Arctic expertise through work with the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats and the Newport Arctic Scholars Initiative at the U.S. Naval War College. She frequently publishes and speaks on Arctic security, climate change, and geopolitics. Her commentary has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Business Insider, and Science among other outlets. Ms. Maddox holds an M.A. in International Security with a concentration in Transnational Challenges from George Mason University’s Schar School. She holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Ecosystems from Binghamton University.

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