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This contribution is an analysis of how the rights of the Sámi to engage in reindeer husbandry are guaranteed in the green transition to renewable energy in Sweden. Consideration of the increasing number of court decisions addressing the impacts of wind energy on reindeer husbandry in Sweden raises significant questions about the fairness of the transition to sustainable development. The purpose of this analysis is to examine the impacts of wind energy on reindeer husbandry and uncover the justice issues raised by this development. Drawing on the discourse of just transition that includes distributional, procedural and recognition considerations, this analysis more specifically examines the distributive effects of the development of wind energy on reindeer husbandry and identifies how Sámi reindeer herders are included and their status and human rights as an Indigenous people recognised within this process. On this basis, the conclusion from this study is that systemic reforms of the Swedish system that take due consideration of the human rights of the Sámi as an Indigenous people must be implemented in order to ensure a transition to sustainable development that equally benefits Sámi reindeer herders and can therefore provide justice for all.

After a period of relative neglect in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Arctic is back on the agenda of the Russian authorities. To ensure efficient coordination and implementation of its Arctic strategy, the government in 2015 established a State Commission for Arctic Development. It was to serve as a platform for coordinating the implementation of the government's ambitious plans for the Arctic, for exchange of information among Arctic actors, and for ironing out interagency and interregional conflicts. Based on a case study of the State Commission for Arctic Development, this article has a twofold goal. First, it explores the current Russian domestic Arctic agenda, mapping key actors and priorities and examining the results achieved so far. Second, it discusses what this case study may tell us the about policy formulation and implementation in Russia today. We find that while the government's renewed focus on the Arctic Zone has yielded some impressive results, the State Commission has been at best a mixed success. The case study demonstrates how, in the context of authoritarian modernization, the Russian government struggles to come up with effective and efficient institutions for Arctic governance. Moreover, the widespread image of a Russian governance model based on a strictly hierarchic "power vertical" must be modified. Russia's Arctic policy agenda is characterized by infighting and bureaucratic obstructionism: even when Putin intervenes personally, achieving the desired goals can prove difficult.

The Arctic Council Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) recently released a report on the blue bioeconomy in the Arctic. In this paper, we discuss the Norwegian policy to promote the Norwegian blue bioeconomy, analysing the government's bioeconomy strategy and its strategy for marine residuals. We find that the strategies have several and partly incompatible goals, related to improving the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of the seafood sector. We discuss challenges and (missed) opportunities in the Norwegian government's strategy for turning the Norwegian economy towards blue growth. Our findings are supported by recent studies that conclude that more efficient and coherent policy actions are needed to ensure the sustainability of the marine bioeconomy.

Introduction to a series of articles on the topic of empires. The analytical goal of the series is to contribute historical facts, concepts, and theories to the discussion of imperial tendencies in present time. The political goal of the series is to introduce historical documentation that certain political entities previously labeled "states" might be better understood in the context of the conceptualization of empires. The article argues the return of imperialistic relationships in global politics, in particular the imperial role of present-day USA and Russia. The terms of state and empire are defined as used in the series of articles. Nexon and Wright's binding strategies and pivoting strategies for within-segment relationships are outlined. The article deals with the analytical problem of empires rising within a system that uses states and state logic as the analytical unit of measure. The articles in the series will focus on European and transatlantic empires and will account for the rise and fall of each empire. References. E. Sundby