The Duck of Minerva

The Looming Threat

by Dan Nexon

9 February 2007, 1745 EST

I assumed the data on Svalbard military spending was a mistake. But now I’m becoming quite concerned. David Johnston uncovers more about the possible threat from Svalbard.

The island will soon be home to a Doomsday facility.

David questions whether the bunker is really just a seed vault. Given our information about Svalbard’s immense per capita military expenditures–which in absolute terms dwarf its “official” GDP–I think he’s right to be skeptical. When we combine these facts with the looming Polar Bear threat–territorial losses and foreign occupations breed, as we all know, suicide terrorism–perhaps the US is focusing undue attention on Iran and North Korea. The true threat may lie in Svalbard.

But, and here’s an even more frightening thought, what if the “Doomsday” vault really is a seed bank?

Why would Svalbard be hoarding seeds in a facility designed to insulate them against future catastrophes? What could Svalbard be planning?

Developing…

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Daniel H. Nexon is a Professor at Georgetown University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Government and the School of Foreign Service. His academic work focuses on international-relations theory, power politics, empires and hegemony, and international order. He has also written on the relationship between popular culture and world politics.

He has held fellowships at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation and at the Ohio State University's Mershon Center for International Studies. During 2009-2010 he worked in the U.S. Department of Defense as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow. He was the lead editor of International Studies Quarterly from 2014-2018.

He is the author of The Struggle for Power in Early Modern Europe: Religious Conflict, Dynastic Empires, and International Change (Princeton University Press, 2009), which won the International Security Studies Section (ISSS) Best Book Award for 2010, and co-author of Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order (Oxford University Press, 2020). His articles have appeared in a lot of places. He is the founder of the The Duck of Minerva, and also blogs at Lawyers, Guns and Money.

Website |  + posts

Daniel H. Nexon is a Professor at Georgetown University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Government and the School of Foreign Service. His academic work focuses on international-relations theory, power politics, empires and hegemony, and international order. He has also written on the relationship between popular culture and world politics.

He has held fellowships at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation and at the Ohio State University's Mershon Center for International Studies. During 2009-2010 he worked in the U.S. Department of Defense as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow. He was the lead editor of International Studies Quarterly from 2014-2018.

He is the author of The Struggle for Power in Early Modern Europe: Religious Conflict, Dynastic Empires, and International Change (Princeton University Press, 2009), which won the International Security Studies Section (ISSS) Best Book Award for 2010, and co-author of Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order (Oxford University Press, 2020). His articles have appeared in a lot of places. He is the founder of the The Duck of Minerva, and also blogs at Lawyers, Guns and Money.

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