The program will analyze the law and policies applicable in each region, as well as the particular geographic conditions that have resulted in specific delimitation and environmental agreements. In specific cases, also navigation will be a substantial issue discussed in class. The program will cover, in each case, a legal overview of the relevant coastal States and the status of the relevant maritime domains. For example, with regards to the Arctic Ocean, title to territory is hardly a major issue (nevertheless, the course will address the legal status of Hans Island, the Svalbard archipelago, Greenland, Sverdrup Islands). The most difficult and pressing issues of international law in the Arctic concern the maritime domain, therefore the course will focus on: the relevant maritime boundaries, including the difficult question of the Beaufort Sea; the extended continental shelves claimed by the Arctic States; Arctic Straits, including a legal analysis of navigation through the “Northwest Passage” (through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago) and the “Northern Sea Route” (along the Russian coast); future shipping routes and coastal States navigational policies; submarine voyages; marine environmental protection, with a focus on the impacts of climate change; and indigenous rights.