Melting, thawing, shifting, and moving – the rapidly changing Arctic is prompting the eight states with territories north of the Arctic Circle to re-assert their status as ‘Arctic states’. Formal titles and territories aside, however, the Arctic has rarely been seen as more than peripheral to the national ‘homeland’, and so, legitimacy as Arctic states does not automatically translate to legitimacy as Arctic nations. Focusing on three Arctic states where national identity as such has been instrumental in official rhetoric – Norway, Iceland, and Canada – this paper explores how state officials conceptualise the meaning of Arctic statehood. Through interviews with officials in a wide range of positions, it asks how identity discourses enable
