National security “sucks the air out of the room for everything else,” Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski says

This year’s Arctic Council ministerial meeting showcased increasingly complicated issues in the region — from national security to climate change and more — and the subsequently complex discussions around them. In its aftermath, attendees and observers are debating where the organization will go from here, and whether its mandates — particularly the exclusion of national security issues — will change.

Although it’s unlikely the council will take on defense issues, observers say, conversations around national security will continue on the sidelines as the region continues to change rapidly.

For the first time in the council’s 20-year history, there was no joint declaration from this year’s ministerial meeting. And U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used the occasion to spotlight national security concerns in the Arctic, especially “aggressive behavior” by China and Russia. Read more at ArcticToday.