Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online explores a small hotel close to the Norway-Russia border, where gatherings of Arctic experts are closely followed by the intelligence services.
With its enormous bay window looking out over one of northern Norway's fjords, the Thon Hotel in Kirkenes is a three-hour flight from Oslo and could easily be taken for one of the most isolated places on earth. Behind its peaceful location on the shores of the Barent Sea, however, the hotel has played a key role in international politics in recent years. It is a meeting place for a select group of academics specialising in Arctic affairs who travel there from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Oslo, Ottawa,
