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Artic Geopolitics : Are Petrol and Maritime Routes at the Heart of Regional Rivalries ? In a context marked by climate change and the accelerated melting of the ice shelf in summer, the media regularly refer to the power games that are presently emerging in the Artic. Some observers speak of a “battle for the far north”, a new “Cold War”, even a “mad scramble” among countries bordering the Artic Ocean to control its riches. Yet, beyond these catastrophic and ultimately unlikely scenarios, two questions today pit the five countries of the Artic against one another : that of the status of the North West and North East passages in the event of increased traffic and that of the extension of economic sovereignty to the continental shelf beyond the 200 maritime mile limit of exclusive economic zones (EEZ). Though they are often conflated in the media, these two questions are very different in terms both of the issues at stake and the shifting alliances to which they give rise in the region. ■