Speakers
Home / Conference / KCIS 2022 / Kathryn Friedman
Dr. Kathryn Friedman
-
Kathryn Bryk Friedman is the North American Arctic Policy Advisor at the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies and a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Canada Institute). Friedman is a recognized foreign policy expert on North America, specifically the US-Canada relationship, with experience in security, borders, trade, migration, and transboundary water governance. Her strategic advice to senior-level government officials includes advising the US Embassy Ottawa; US Consulate General Toronto; Embassy of Canada to the United States; Canadian Consulate Generals New York, Chicago and Seattle; the Government of Northern Ireland; and the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. She also has worked with The Nature Conservancy and the Alliance for the Great Lakes on strategies for strengthening water diplomacy and governance.*
*source: http://tedstevensarcticcenter.org/people2/dr-kathryn-friedman/
Conference Abstract
Significant geopolitical, military, economic, and environmental risks are ushering in a new era of strategic competition in the Arctic. Defined by "peaceful cooperation" for decades, the shifting Arctic security environment requires fresh inquiry into what these dynamics mean for North American interests and, more specifically, the United States and Canada. What tools do the United States and Canada collectively have to address Arctic security challenges? How can the United States strengthen collaboration and cooperation with Canada to face these challenges? Part I outlines the concepts of hard power, soft power, and smart power as useful for thinking about US-Canada engagement in the Arctic. Part II situates security cooperation within the "smart power" frame and examines examples of US-Canada security cooperation in the Arctic. Security cooperation conceivably encompasses a broad array of government (federal, sub-federal, and regional) and civil society institutions, networks, and stakeholders. This article narrowly examines security cooperation as it is defined and operationalized by the United States Department of Defense (DOD) and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). Part III offers the following reflections on a bilateral approach to Arctic challenges moving forward: soft power tools hold significant promise, and a bilateral strategy for the Arctic should be pursued.
