David Balton shares his thoughts on the future of the North

By Britany Adorno-Alicea

The Arctic Leadership Lecture Series brought in guest speaker veteran diplomat and Arctic policy leader Ambassador David Balton to discuss the changing North and ways the community and the nation can help. 

Photo courtesy of UAF’s political science department

David Balton, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries at the U.S. Department of State.

The series is a political science course that invites students and community members to engage in academic discussions and engage with others in the community. It’s a course that is offered online to undergraduate and graduate students, but the lectures are offered free to the public for those who wish to explore the aspects of leadership in the Arctic. Course instructor, Dr. Chandra Meek, hosts these lectures biweekly on Thursdays.

Balton formerly served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries at the U.S. Department of State, as well as served as Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials. He co-chaired task forces that produced key Arctic agreements on search and rescue, oil pollution, and fisheries.

He is the first guest speaker this year to come to the leadership lectures who is not an Alaska-born leader. Balton grew up just outside of New York City. He came to Alaska as a young man with an interest in foreign policy and went to law school and that is where he says his career started, working at the U.S. State Department.

He’s been involved in the international fisheries issues and says this moment was the right place at the right time. He was involved in helping international fisheries by providing better management. He was involved during the time of the creation of the North Pacific and Adrosist Fish Commission, and was present during the negotiations of the Central Sea Donut Hole agreement, and other fisheries agreements being put out at the United Nations and the Food and Agricultural Organization. 

He worked at the state department and had responsibility over both polar regions and was in charge of forming treaties with Russia and other Arctic countries for the first time in modern history.

Balton spoke about reconciling domestic vs international priorities at a government level. He touched on the three out of four times he has been a member of the committees that helped to work on the long term objectives on the Arctic.

He named six of those objectives: protect U.S. international security in the Arctic, preserve the Arctic environment, promote economic development in the Arctic, honor and fulfill our commitments to the Alaska Natives and recognize the interest of Indigenous people in the circumpolar North, understand the Arctic better through science and Indigenous knowledge, and promote international cooperation and collaboration within the Arctic.

“Those documents outlining the objectives over several decades were developed with a lot of input from domestic interest groups,” Balton said. “Not everyone was happy with everything, but these documents allowed for a balance of domestic interest.”

Balton spoke on the future challenges of Arctic policy, one of the main concerns being the increasing danger of climate change and its impact on the Arctic North.

He closed off the lecture by offering some words and lessons of advice to all.

“Sometimes people with a little less or different kinds of experience can approach problems in a lateral way that can allow for progress you didn’t know was possible,” Balton said.

Balton also said that we should seize any opportunity that comes our way. He spoke from experience, having been involved and put into positions where his law degree might have seemed out of place. 

David Balton’s talk was a deeply informative and inspirational lecture about the changes to the Arctic and how those who are carving that path for themselves can achieve success in protecting it from dangers.

The Arctic Leadership Lectures Series have their next scheduled lecture for October 23, with guest speaker Melanie Bahnke, CEO of Kawerak, Inc., where she will speak on the importance of leadership grounded in culture, collaboration, resilience, and of local voices in shaping Alaska’s future.