Report from the book launch hosted by Oplandske Bokforlag and the Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research, 29 January 2026

Willy Østreng
Det geopolitiske polhavet – Samtidsutfordringer i et historisk perspektiv
(The Geopolitical Arctic Ocean – Current Challenges in a historical perspective).  
1,432 pages (2 volumes)
Oplandske Bokforlag 2025

There was anticipation in the air one cold evening in January 2026 when family, friends and colleagues of Willy Østreng gathered at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (DNVA) in Oslo to participate in the launch of his Magnum opus about the geopolitical Arctic Ocean. The atmosphere of the old beautiful building that houses DNVA, with a large painting of Fridtjof Nansen in the auditorium, was a suitable location for the event. The two volumes, totalling 1432 pages, provides us with an encyclopaedia of the geopolitical development of the Arctic Ocean going back 150 years. Not a single stone has been left unturned in his quest for understanding the geopolitical, historical and environmental contexts of the Arctic Ocean. It could not have been a timelier publishing event with President Trump’s claims on Greenland and other high-level geopolitical discussions about the Arctic Ocean and its resources. The Arctic region has heated up considerably, both politically and climatically.  Only 10 – 15 years ago we talked about the high-North-low-tension. Willy Østreng’s two-volume study provides valuable knowledge about the players, the physical processes and shifting power relations for the past 150 years.

The two volumes represent a comprehensive story about a very complex and to date somewhat inaccessible ocean – at the top of the world. Østreng’s study of the geopolitics associated with the Arctic Ocean illustrates complex political relations, a shifting geographical understanding and a deep and interesting history of Arctic expeditions, resource extraction, disputes, shipping routes, conflict and cooperation, policy areas and reduced sea ice.  Østreng, a political scientist, with 25 books on related topics, offers critical thinking around the theoretical approach to geopolitics. We learn about the concept of geopolitics, its development, the diverse theoretical and analytical applications, and how it has been applied to gain power and justify wars. But Østreng dismisses in an interview with High North News that “imperialism is the mother of geopolitics and that the only tool of geopolitics is violence” (Hansen HNN 15 Dec.,2025). Being critical to such a narrow view he takes us on a political science tour of the study of geopolitics and illustrates that international geopolitical cooperation has resulted in important geopolitical instruments such as the Law of The Sea and the Svalbard Treaty. He therefore highlights important theoretical discussions about the role of geopolitics in multinational cooperation, protection of the Human Rights and international law.  

In his quest for more comprehensive and interdisciplinary knowledge about the Arctic Ocean in a geopolitical context, Willy began the work on these two volumes five years ago. I recall him telling me at the time that he expected the book to be about 800 pages. Later the publisher told me that he had to put his foot down at 1400 pages! This illustrates not only the vast amount of material and sources on the topic going back 150 years, but also Østreng’s incredible ability to write multiple stories and tie them together in an exceedingly clear and readable manner. 

Being true to his interdisciplinary project, Willy includes scientific knowledge from a vast array of disciplines including geophysics, geology, climatology, oceanography, law, anthropology and human geography. And we learn about the management of natural resource use in the Arctic and the bathymetry of the Arctic Ocean. To ensure he has understood the natural and social sciences he has diligently consulted with colleagues throughout the process and he uses maps and figures liberally as illustrations.

The interdisciplinarity of the volumes illustrates that the Arctic Ocean – the northern-most ocean in the world – is deeply connected to nations with no Arctic borders, and to processes beyond the rim of its shores.

Back at the book launch in January under the steady gaze of Fridtjof Nansen, we witness the statesman Willy Østreng in an animated and knowledgeable discussion with the renowned commentator Harald Stanghelle and the audience, and we understand that it is likely that he could have written yet another Magnum opus about the geopolitics of the Arctic Ocean.

Grete K. Hovelsrud
Professor Emerita
President to The Norwegian Scientific Academy for Polar Research

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