Demilitarizing The Arctic

 

Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Related:

Look North

China And The Arctic

The Changing Geopolitics of The Arctic

An excerpt from, "The Arctic: A View From Moscow" By Dmitri Trenin and Pavel K. Baev, Carnegie Endowment For International Peace, 2010, pg. 9:

According to the document, “Foundations of Russian Federation state Policy in the Arctic through 2020 and Beyond,” which the russian president approved in 2008, russia views the Arctic as a strategic resource base that it can expand by delimiting the Arctic waters. The strategy is based on international law and reaching agreements with the other Arctic countries.

At the same time, moscow intends to establish optimal conditions for operating there by being able to “guarantee military security in various military-political situations.” Although this statement sounds ominous, it refers to cold war–era forces deployed on the Kola Peninsula, Novaya Zemlya, and other Arctic locations—forces that have been scaled back substantially since the end of the cold war. The russian Defense ministry has made no request to beef up these contingents. isolated statements by officials like russian security council secretary Nikolai Patrushev and paratroop commander General Vladimir shamanov have remained just that—isolated. indeed, in other statements Patrushev has “ruled out” the possibility of war in the Arctic, and Foreign minister sergei Lavrov has said there are no grounds for “seeing the Arctic as a potential conflict zone.” The russian authorities will defend their national interests in international bodies.

russia plans to document its claims to territory lying beyond its current economic zone before the end of 2010 and to establish the outer borders of its Arctic zone by 2015 in order to “exercise on this basis russia’s competitive advantages in the production and transport of energy resources,” according to the russian Arctic strategy paper. if russia’s diplomatic efforts succeed, by 2020 the Arctic will become “one of the russian Federation’s leading strategic resource bases.” 

An excerpt from, "Canadian Arctic Defence Policy: A Synthesis of Key Documents, 1970 - 2013" (PDF) By Ryan Dean, P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Adam Lajeunesse, University of Calgary, 2014, pg. 57 - 59:

In July 2009, the Harper Government articulated its Northern Strategy in a major policy document. It began with a strong appeal to identity politics and the North’s central place in emerging domestic and international contexts: 

Canada's far North is a fundamental part of Canada – it is part of our heritage, our future and our identity as a country. The North is undergoing rapid changes, from the impacts of climate change to the growth of Northern and Aboriginal governments and institutions. At the same time, domestic and international interest in the Arctic region is rising. This growing interest underscores the importance of Canada to exert effective leadership both at home and abroad in order to promote a prosperous and stable region responsive to Canadian interests and values. 

Accordingly, the Government of Canada framed its northern vision around the ideas that: 

• self-reliant individuals live in healthy, vital communities, manage their own affairs and shape their own destinies; 
• the Northern tradition of respect for the land and the environment is paramount and the principles of responsible and sustainable development anchor all decision-making and action; 
• strong, responsible, accountable governments work together for a vibrant, prosperous future for all – a place whose people and governments are significant contributing partners to a dynamic, secure Canadian federation; and 
• we patrol and protect our territory through enhanced presence on the land, in the sea and over the skies of the Arctic. 

Its integrated Northern Strategy emphasized four equally important and mutually reinforcing priorities:

• Exercising our Arctic Sovereignty 
• Promoting Social and Economic Development
• Protecting our Environmental Heritage
• Improving and Devolving Northern Governance

In setting the strategic context, the Northern Strategy stated that: 

International interest in the North has intensified because of the potential for resource development, the opening of new transportation routes, and the growing impacts of climate change. In September 2007, satellite imaging verified that the Northwest Passage had less than 10 percent ice coverage, making it, by definition, "fully navigable" for several weeks. This was well ahead of most recent forecasts. Although the Northwest Passage is not expected to become a safe or reliable transportation route in the near future, reduced ice coverage and longer periods of navigability may result in an increased number of ships undertaking destination travel for tourism, natural resource exploration or development. 

Rather than dwelling on competition and conflict, the document affirmed that “Canada has a strong history of working with our northern neighbours to promote Canadian interests internationally and advance our role as a responsible Arctic nation” and that “cooperation, diplomacy and international law have always been Canada's preferred approach in the Arctic.”  It highlighted the United States as “an exceptionally valuable partner in the Arctic,” including on safety and security issues (with specific reference to search and rescue). It also emphasized opportunities for cooperation with Russia and “common interests” with European Arctic states, as well as a shared commitment to international law. Implicitly, this confirmed that bilateral and multilateral engagement remained key to stability and security in the region. In reaffirming the central roles of the Arctic Council in circumpolar dialogue and of the Law of the Sea as “an extensive legal framework” providing “a solid foundation for responsible management by the five Arctic Ocean coastal states and other users of this Ocean,” the overall tenor is optimistic and positive.   

Video Title: What Security Threats Do Russia and China Pose to Canada's Arctic? Source: The News Forum. Date Published: July 27, 2022. Description:

Nima sits down with Dr. Rob Huebert, Arctic security expert and associate professor at the University of Calgary.

The Other Candidate For Shakespeare's True Authorship: Sir Thomas North

Wikipedia:

Sir Thomas North (28 May 1535 – c. 1604) was an English translator, military officer, lawyer, and justice of the peace. His translation into English of Plutarch's Parallel Lives is notable for being the main source text used by William Shakespeare for his Roman plays.

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, "[i]t is almost impossible to overestimate the influence of North's vigorous English on contemporary writers, and some critics have called him the first master of English prose".

An excerpt from, "What’s In a Name? Tracing an Obsession with the Shakespeare Authorship Question" By Michael Blanding, Literary Hub, May 31, 2022:

Not for the first time, I wondered how I had gotten to this point. A longtime investigative journalist, I had published a book six months earlier called North by Shakespeare: A Rogue Scholar’s Quest for the Truth Behind the Bard’s Work. It profiles Dennis McCarthy, a 57-year-old polymath who has for years been obsessively trying to prove that William Shakespeare had based many of his plays on now-lost plays by Thomas North.

I know. I was skeptical too when I first heard his theory, thinking it another conspiracy theory claiming Shakespeare didn’t write Shakespeare. As he showed me his evidence, however, I became intrigued by the idea. As it turns out, Elizabethan scribblers were constantly stealing and rewriting each other’s work, and even mainstream scholars believe William Shakespeare often rewrote earlier, now-lost plays to create his own. Among other plays, they’ve identified references to early versions of Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, and even Hamlet in various courtiers’ diaries, satirical pamphlets, and revels records.

But academics have been curiously uninterested in trying to ferret out the identity of the playwrights who penned those works. McCarthy had used some novel techniques to reach his conclusion that the author of a great many of them was Sir Thomas North, a writer 30 years older than Shakespeare who was best-known for the English translation of the book Plutarch’s Lives (the undisputed source for Shakespeare’s Roman plays) as well as several other books of courtly wisdom.

McCarthy used plagiarism software to compare the text of North’s translations—about a million words in all—with the text of Shakespeare’s plays—another million words. When he did, his computer lit up like a Christmas tree, displaying thousands of phrases in common, many found in similar situations and contexts, and many unique in English. Some were up to eight words long, the equivalent of hitting every number in a Powerball ticket and then some.

There was other compelling evidence as well. McCarthy and his collaborator June Schlueter, a professor emerita at Lafayette College, found a manuscript once in the North family library at Kirtling Hall that they identified as a source for 11 of Shakespeare’s plays. They discovered a handwritten journal North had made on a trip to Italy that seemed to inspire scenes from Henry VIII and The Winter’s Tale, including details of locations Shakespeare never visited and scenes he never witnessed. They even discovered financial records suggesting North had been paid for plays along with the actors of the Earl of Leicester’s Men, a theater company with members in common with Shakespeare’s troupe.

Despite the potential bombshell of these findings, McCarthy had a problem—he was not a trained academic, never mind a Shakespearean scholar. In fact, he had dropped out of college at the University of Buffalo years ago, a few credits shy of graduation. Though he was a naturally gifted writer, who had published a book on the geography of evolution with Oxford University Press, he faced an uphill battle in getting any academic to take his work seriously.

Video Title: Proof for Sir Thomas North as Shakespeare by Dennis McCarthy. Source: Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable. Date Published: May 18, 2021. Description: 

Dennis McCarthy is an independent researcher and author of "Thomas North's 1555 Travel Journal: From Italy to Shakespeare". He pioneered the authorship candidacy of Thomas North by utilizing plagiarism software in 2018. His website is www.sirthomasnorth.com 

He spoke to the Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable about his discoveries.

John Amos Comenius

Wikipedia:

John Amos Comenius (28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Moravian philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considered the father of modern education. He served as the last bishop of the Unity of the Brethren before becoming a religious refugee and one of the earliest champions of universal education, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica Magna. As an educator and theologian, he led schools and advised governments across Protestant Europe through the middle of the seventeenth century.

. . .He produced the book Janua linguarum reserata, or The Gate of Languages Unlocked, which brought him to prominence. However, as the Unity of the Brethren became an important target of the Counter Reformation movement, he was forced into exile even as his fame grew across Europe. Comenius took refuge in Leszno in Poland, where he led the gymnasium and, furthermore, was given charge of the Bohemian and Moravian churches.

. . .In 1641, he responded to a request by the English parliament and joined a commission there charged with the reform of the system of public education. The English Civil War interfered with the latter project. According to Cotton Mather, Comenius was asked by Winthrop to be the President of Harvard University (this being more plausibly John Winthrop the Younger than his father as junior Winthrop was in England) but in 1642, Comenius moved to Sweden instead[14][15] to work with Queen Christina (reigned 1632–1654) and the chancellor Axel Oxenstierna (in office 1612–1654) on the task of reorganizing the Swedish schools. 

. . .John Amos Comenius was a bishop of the Unity of the Brethren church that had its roots in the teaching of Czech reformer Jan Hus. One of his most famous theological works is the Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart. The book represents his thinking about the world being full of various useless things and complex labyrinths, and that the true peace of mind and soul can be found only in one's heart where Christ the Saviour should dwell and rule. This teaching is also repeated in one of his last works, Unum Necessarium (Only One is Needed), where he shows various labyrinths and problems in the world and provides simple solutions to various situations. In this book he also admits that his former believing in prophecies and revelations of those days was his personal labyrinth where he got lost many times. He was greatly influenced by Boehme.

Wikipedia:

In 1628, when the Habsburgs allowed only the Catholic religion in their monarchy, many Czech Brethren found exile in Leszno, in Catholic Poland, where Protestants were tolerated. Comenius formed the idea that language cannot be taught without relation to things. He also saw a narrow connection between language and knowledge, both of which he considered limited. His friends persuaded him to express these ideas in books, of which Janua Linguarum Reserata was the first. Comenius was inspired by a Latin–Spanish textbook called Janua Linguarum, published in Salamanca in 1611 by an Irish monk William Bathe (Latin: Bateus). The book was published in 1617 in London in four languages, the other two being English and French.

The new encyclopaedic and linguistic system brought fame to the book and its author so that he became name familiar to European scholars. Right after being published, the book was widely praised, re-published and translated so that it became the most widespread book in Europe of its time, except for the Bible. A Czech version was published by Comenius in Leszno in 1633 under the name Dveře jazyků otevřené. It was translated to 11 or 12 European languages.

Video Title: Life and Legacy of John Amos Comenius (2021) Full Movie | Docudrama | Biography. Source: EncourageTV. Date Published: April 24, 2024. Description:

This historical docudrama presents the life of a Czech prodigy from an unusual point of view. The world-famous Dutch painter Rembrandt is painting a portrait of Comenius and their dialogue includes memories of events that affected Comenius's life and work. Directed by Lubomir Hlavsa Starring Alois Svehlik, Igor Bares, David Svehlik

The Real Shakespeare's Birthplace And Why It Matters

 

Hedingham Castle, the birthplace of Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, and the author of the Shakespeare canon.

History is more interesting than myth. It is a richer resource than religion. Some history we may never be able to uncover because of the long distance of time, but the Elizabethan era is not that long ago.

Since Shakespeare was constructed as a national figure, the taboo of questioning his identity as the author of the plays runs deep across all layers of society. 

A lot of people for whatever reason don't want to believe that an arrogant nobleman was the real progenitor of the Shakespeare canon. But all the facts say so. And thank God for that, because the real Shakespeare, the aristocratic Shakespeare with Norman lineage, is more fascinating than the image of Shakespeare we've been presented with all these years.

Reimagining Shakespeare means reimagining history. To learn that the great wordsmith of the English language was born not in a village hut to an obscure family, but, instead, in one of the greatest castles of the land, surrounded by scholarly works and historical personalities, makes all the sense in the world. 

Positioning him at the heart of the royal court, close to the pulse of power, fits with the themes and settings of his extraordinary plays.

And recognizing his real birthplace matters. Situating him in the correct time and place would better explain, for example, the Calvinist bent in his dramas. To know that Arthur Golding, the translator of Ovid's Metamorphoses and John Calvin's treatises, was his uncle, is highly informative.

And this isn't knowledge for knowledge's sake. Knowing who the real Shakespeare was isn't useless information. A better understanding of his plays and their real origins ennobles us. A false reading of its author takes something away. It takes the history away. It removes the context, the subtleties, the life, the drama.

We must remember that in medieval and ancient times, long before universal literacy, great works of literature were largely created by individuals with means, a cultivated education, a great amount of leisure, a sense of patriotic duty, egotistic ambition, and access to power. The real Shakespeare, the man behind Shakespeare, had those attributes and qualifications in spades.

Poets like Shakespeare, Goethe, Dante, or Virgil, had to be from well-off families. Writing and publishing poems was not a money making pursuit then or now. It was a creative pursuit, and, more importantly, a matter of state politics. 

Royal patronage of poetry to disseminate court propaganda, imperial ideology, and religious dogma happened everywhere on earth. "Shakespeare's" legacy cannot be understood without this historical and political context.

Poetic epics and holy books were not penned by men in caves or small towns in the countryside. They were officially sanctioned state business, emanating from the throne. 

Some researchers who have studied the origins of Islam now speculate that the production of the Koran text took the span of decades, even centuries, before it was finally standardized. It was a collaborative effort driven by military conquerors to solidify their rule on religious grounds, and not the inspiration of one man.

The development of a language, the awakening of a nation, the creation of a religion, and poetry is indispensable to all three, are all elite-driven activities. 

The founding fathers of America were not average men. The original martyrs of any religious movement are the elite of a society. But, in their cases, they only founded a country, and popularized a religion. Edward de Vere aided in the discovery and development of a language. His accomplishments are greater because the consolidation of a language comes before nation and faith.

Undoubtedly a better knowledge of the man behind Shakespeare will help illuminate his works, thereby increasing our appreciation for his genius when we read them. Reclaiming him from the grave of falsehoods and honouring his memory is not a futile task or a mad fantasy. 

II.

Hedingham Castle - Wikipedia:

Hedingham Castle, in the village of Castle Hedingham, Essex, is arguably the best preserved Norman keep in England. The castle fortifications and outbuildings were built around 1100, and the keep around 1140. However, the keep is the only major medieval structure that has survived, albeit less two turrets. It is a Grade I listed building and a scheduled monument. The keep is open to the public.

. . .Hedingham Castle may occupy the site of an earlier castle believed to have been built in the late 11th or early 12th century by Aubrey de Vere I, a Norman baron. Hedingham was one of the largest manors among those acquired by Aubrey I. The Domesday Book records that he held the manor of Hedingham by 1086, and he ordered that vineyards be planted. It became the head of the Vere barony.

Hedingham Castle:

Nestled in the Essex-Suffolk border in England, Hedingham Castle is a remarkable example of Norman architecture, with a history dating back almost a millennium. Constructed by the first Earl of Oxford, Aubrey de Vere, around 1140, the well-preserved keep is one of the best of its kind in the country. Aubrey was a prominent Norman nobleman who was granted the land by William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. 

Edward de Vere:

Edward de Vere was the only son of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford, and Margery Golding. After the death of his father in 1562, he became a ward of Queen Elizabeth I and was sent to live in the household of her principal advisor, Sir William Cecil. He married Cecil's daughter, Anne, with whom he had five children. Oxford was estranged from her for five years and refused to acknowledge he was the father of their first child.

A champion jouster, Oxford travelled widely throughout France and the many states of Italy. He was among the first to compose love poetry at the Elizabethan court and was praised as a playwright, though none of the plays known as his survive. A stream of dedications praised Oxford for his generous patronage of literary, religious, musical, and medical works, and he patronised both adult and boy acting companies, as well as musicians, tumblers, acrobats and performing animals.

Video Title: HEDINGHAM CASTLE - England's Best Preserved Norman Keep! Source: Go Visit Castles. Date Published: July 27, 2022. Description:

The stone keep at Hedingham is arguably the best preserved Norman keep in England. It was constructed around 1141 by the De Veres, who had been awarded the land by William the Conqueror and who went on to be given the title Earls of Oxford. The keep owes its remarkable preservation to the little military action it saw, being attacked only once by King John. The 13th Earl, John de Vere, was commander of Henry Tudor's army at the Battle of Bosworth.

Sir Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance discuss The Declaration of Reasonable Doubt

Wikipedia:

The Declaration of Reasonable Doubt is an Internet signing petition which seeks to enlist broad public support for the Shakespeare authorship question to be accepted as a legitimate field of academic inquiry. The petition was presented to William Leahy of Brunel University by the actors Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance on 8 September 2007 in Chichester, England, after the final matinee of the play I Am Shakespeare on the topic of the bard's identity, featuring Rylance in the title role. As of 23 April 2016, the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death and the original self-imposed deadline, the document had been signed by 3,348 people, including 573 self-described current and former academics. As of December 2022, the count stood at 5,128 total signatures.

Wikipedia:

Jacobi has been publicly involved in the Shakespeare authorship question. He supports the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship, according to which Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford wrote the works of Shakespeare. Jacobi has given an address to the Shakespeare Authorship Research Centre promoting de Vere as the Shakespeare author and wrote forewords to two books on the subject in 2004 and 2005.

In 2007, Jacobi and fellow Shakespearean actor and director Mark Rylance initiated a "Declaration of Reasonable Doubt" on the authorship of Shakespeare's work, to encourage new research into the question.

Video Title: Sir Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance discuss The Declaration of Reasonable Doubt. Source: DoubtAboutWill. Date Published: April 25, 2016.