The Arctic Five are the five countries with coastlines on the Arctic Ocean. They are: Canada, Russia, Norway; through Alaska, The United States; and through Greenland, Denmark.

This collection of five countries we will use as a bridge to discussing the geopolitics of one of the world’s least visited, least talked about and least understood regions. Due to its remoteness and its emptiness, the Arctic is an object in World affairs; that is to say, it is a region that has things done to it, rather than doing things or deciding things, itself.

This passivity is deeply unfortunate, given that the future of normal life on Planet Earth depends so completely on the future of a relatively normal climate in the Arctic.

My guest today is Dr Becca Pincus. Becca is the Director of the Polar Institute at the Wilson Center, and conducts regular research on the behaviour of the Arctic States. We discuss the effects of and solutions to climate change in the Arctic, the extent of climate scepticism in today’s Republican Party, the ability for the smaller Arctic countries to affect policy change, and why Donald Trump wanted to buy Greenland off Denmark.