Frozen narratives: How media present security in the Arctic

The current academic discourse on the concept of regional security is characterized by several theoretical approaches and schools. For the purpose of this article, the modified securitization theory (Copenhagen School) is applied as it expands the security agenda beyond the classical military sector to politics, environment, economy and society. The theory further contests traditional approaches to security by focusing on other referent objects than the state (e.g. environment, industry, ethnic groups). At the same time, the state does not constitute the only securitizing actor. While there is a general agreement that there are numerous challenging issues in the Arctic, including the consequences of climate change, oil and gas extraction, mining and fisheries, there is only a limited awareness of securitized issues within the region. In order to understand why issues related to the environment, economy and regional politics are becoming securitized in the Arctic, there is a need for knowledge about securitization processes. In this article, I examine securitization in the Arctic (case study focused on the United States) by identifying narratives presented by the media as one of the key securitizing actors. The analysis provides a typology of four different narratives, applied by the five most influential media outlets in the United States