The “Global Arctic project” emanated from the Northern Research Forum (NRF) and its biennial Open Assemblies, as well as from the University of the Arctic’s and the NRF’s joint Thematic Network on Geopolitics and Security. It was co-founded by Prof. Matthias Finger, then at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, and Prof. Lassi Heininen, then Professor at the University of Lapland, Finland. Both had gotten to know each other back in the late 1970s at the Tampere Peace Research Institute (TAPRI) in Finland. GlobalArctic was officially launched at the 2nd Arctic Circle Assembly on October 31st 2014 in Reykjavik, Iceland. Today, Prof. Lassi Heininen is Professor Emeritus at the University of Lapland and in charge of the “Global Arctic Mission Council” of the Arctic Circle Assembly.