  In 1969 Artin and Mazur defined the \'etale homotopy type of an algebraic
variety \cite{AMa69}. In this paper we define various obstructions to the
local-global principle on a variety $X$ over a global field using the \'etale
homotopy type of $X$ and the concept of homotopy fixed points. We investigate
relations between those "homotopy obstructions" and connect them to various
known obstructions such as the Brauer -Manin obstruction, the \'etale-Brauer
obstruction and finite descent obstructions. This gives a reinterpretation of
known arithmetic obstructions in terms of homotopy theory.
