E. J. R. Cho is a Research Fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS) in Seoul and a lecturer in Seoul National University. Her primary objective is to critically engage with the mainstream discourse of International Relations by adopting cutting-edge concepts in comparative perspectives. Some notable works include ‘Non-Proliferation Efforts at Risk: A Study of North Korea’s Network for Nuclear and Missile Cooperation’(2014), ‘Nation Branding for Survival in North Korea: The Arirang Festival and Nuclear Weapons Tests’ (2017), ‘South Korean views on Japan’s Constitutional Reform under the Abe government’ (co-authored with Ki-young Shin, 2018), and ‘Epistemological Turn in North Korean Studies: Critical Analysis of North Korean Threat Theory’ (2018).

Abstract: What happens when the Arctic—long considered a space of silence, science, and stability—emerges as the world’s newest strategic frontier? 

As receding ice opens new shipping lanes and resource opportunities, Russia has acted swiftly to assert its presence through military buildup, infrastructure expansion, and geopolitical signaling. The High North now stands at the center of Moscow’s broader ambition to recalibrate global power dynamics on its own terms. Western actors, meanwhile, face the challenge of responding to this assertive turn without destabilizing the region. Caught between environmental imperatives and shifting security realities, NATO and its partners must rethink longstanding assumptions about Arctic exceptionalism.

This talk explores the evolving tensions between strategic adaptation and geopolitical inertia, asking whether the West can keep pace with a rapidly transforming polar order.