For thousands of years, the Arctic has remained at the margins of global affairs. But the region has now found its way to the center of the issues that will challenge and define our world in the twenty-first century: energy security and the struggle for natural resources, climate change and its consequences, the return of great power competition, and the remaking of global trade patterns. Geopolitics expert Charles Emmerson discusses the forces which have shaped the Arctic history and introduces the players in politics, business, science and society who are struggling to mold its future. Emmerson has been a Global Leadership Fellow and Associate Director of the World Economic Forum, heading the Forum’s Global Risk Network.