Elana Wilson Rowe

Elana Wilson Rowe

Adjunct Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

Dr Elana Wilson Rowe is an Adjunct Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and Professor of Global Governance at the Norwegian University of the Life Sciences. Dr Rowe’s research and expertise areas include governance of nature and changing power relations in the Anthropocene, Arctic and ocean governance and geopolitics, and Russian climate and Arctic policymaking. Her publications explore how the interplay of diplomatic practices, security rivalries and expert/environmental knowledge shape outcomes and understandings in regional and global policy fields. She is the author of Russian Climate Politics: When Science Meets Policy (Palgrave, 2013) and Arctic Governance: Power in cross-border relations (University of Manchester, 2018). She was a member of Norway’s committee establishing research priorities for the UN Ocean Decade. She holds a BA in Russian and Geography from Middlebury College (USA) and an MPhil and PhD in Geography/Polar Studies from the University of Cambridge (2006). Dr Rowe has also led projects funded by the Norwegian Research Council, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Ministry of Defence.

Recent projects

Website articles  (62) Courtesy: Gateway House
26 March 2026 Gateway House

Arctic politics: between competition and cooperation

The Arctic region is at the crossroads of the dramatic environmental shifts and heightened conflict that are shaping global politics today. In the region, major geopolitical events and enduring rivalries necessitate a logic of competition, yet coordination on transboundary issues remains important. This echoes the challenges facing oceans, ecosystems and planetary problems in global governance more broadly, in which political efforts yield frustratingly incremental, yet indispensable, results.