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Nicky Gardner

Nicky Gardner is co-editor of hidden europe magazine. She specialises in issues of culture and community in remote areas of Europe. She has a particular interest in areas of Europe that lie along or close to the line of the great divide that split Europe into two during the Cold War period. Nicky lives in Berlin.

Content by Nicky Gardner

Grense Jakobselv is at the very end of the road by the rocky shores of the Barents Sea.

2014 looks set to be the busiest year ever on the Northern Sea Route. This week marks the 75th anniversary of a significant moment in the development of the Northern Sea Route, so Barents Observer invited Nicky Gardner to reflect on the historical context of current efforts to maintain the Northern Sea Route as an operational waterway.

More than a century has elapsed since the eminent geographer Halford Mackinder presented his Heartland Theory, arguing that there are key