The Arctic Dispute Research

The Arctic Region refers to the huge northern area of66°34′N, also called theArctic Circle,which is extremely cold with harsh natural surroundings and adverseliving environment. Moreover the Arctic Region is no longer a tranquil area. Since thecold war it has been the target of the fierce competitions among nations. The ArcticRegion benefits from the huge economic value of mineral resources and livingresources, adding the promising future of the North-West Channel and North-EastChannel when the climate warms, most of the nations,especially the nations belongingto the Arctic Circle, compete to take the good opportunity. As a result, tension hasbeen created in the Arctic Region. In order to avoid the escalation of the tension, it isimportant to find the causes.The essay focused on the case study of the conflicts of the resources in the ArcticRegion from the view of common-pool resources, and put forward the solutions fromthe view of institution. According to the economic theory, the resources in the highsea belong to the common-pool resources with the characteristics of competitivenessand non-exclusiveness,which is easy to cause the tragedy of the commons. Besides,the ineffective institutions and the global warming aggravated the tensionTo ease the tension, the essay focused on the improvement of the institutions.The balance between the soft law and hard law and the network of the institution inspecial areas are the key solutions. Meanwhile with the spirit of the common legacy,the international society should step forward to the effective governance of the ArcticRegion.