The world’s polar regions are now central to geopolitical and strategic com-petition. Spillover effects from rapid political, social, and environmental change present unprecedented challenges for governance, environmental protection, and maritime operations in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Both geographic areas can be distinguished by specific terms—namely, the “Arctic” and “Antarctica” (continental landmass)—and by more gener-al descriptions that include adjacent waters and countries— the “circum-polar North” and “polar regions,” for example. Climate change in the polar regions has a direct impact on the geopolitical dynamics of what were previously areas of relative predictability but are now areas of trans-formation—not only in the environment, but also in how the international community operates. Hitherto little-known regions of inaccessible and ex-treme conditions—the “white stuff at the top [or bottom] of the map”—the Arctic, the Antarctic, and their associated marine environments are emer-ging as regions for exploration, exploitation, and extraction. Accordingly, this book captures the complex, multi-factorial framework behind the interconnectivity that is inherent, and increasingly apparent, between the Arctic and Antarctic.