Sebastian Murdoch-Gibson: Exploring the Polar Silk Road

Sebastian Murdoch-Gibson is a Post-Graduate Research Fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. In March and April of 2018 he travelled to Finland, Estonia, Norway, and China to learn more about the ‘Polar Silk Road’ and its potential consequences for Nordic countries.

On his travels, he met a wide variety of actors who are involved with proposed Belt and Road projects including a former tech entrepreneur and creator of Angry Birds who wants to link Helsinki and Tallinn via a undersea tunnel, local officials in the Norwegian Arctic port of Kirkenes, and the President of Finland’s Indigenous Sami Parliament. Along the way, he gained some insights into how the Polar Silk Road might reshape the Arctic in the Nordic countries. A blog series about his journey is available at http://www.asiapacific.ca/blog/author-archive/51055

Prior to working for the Foundation, Sebastian studied Global Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and Indigenous Learning the undergraduate level at Lakehead University. His academic work dealt with maritime territorial disputes in the Asia-Pacific.

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Sebastian Murdoch-Gibson: A Research Fellow on his journey to the Northern Arctic Route

Map of the Polar Silk Road

Credit goes to Tristan Kenderdine

Presenting Research on the Polar Silk Road at the Institute of Governance

Meeting with Shanghai Institute of International Studies Vice President Yang Jian

Views of Kirkenes - prosed terminus of Arctic Railway

A roundtable at APF Headquarters with Lee Kane, Canadian Senior Trade Commissioner in Beijing

Presenting to the distinguished fellows of the Asia Pacific Foundation

Helsinki Railway Station

Kirkenes' Mayor Rune Rafaelsen presenting on the Arctic Railway in Shanghai