Great Power, Arctic Power: Russia's engagement in the High North
This project takes a fresh look at Russia’s Arctic policy and engagement by posing questions about the durability of discourses and practices of Arctic cooperation in Russian policy milieus.Deltakere
Helge Blakkisrud
Elana Wilson Rowe
In this project, we take a fresh look at Russia’s Arctic policy and engagement by posing questions about the durability of discourses and practices of Arctic cooperation in Russian policy milieus, particularly in light of problems or conflicts on different fronts.
Have problems outside the Arctic, for example soured relations with the US over the missile shield and with NATO over Georgia, led to difficulties in Arctic coordination? Or, rather, is the Arctic a special geographical zone in Russian foreign policy where cooperation remains, or perhaps becomes even more, important when there are problems elsewhere? A previous study tracing Russia’s engagement in the Arctic Council since 1999 (Wilson Rowe 2008) found that the nature of Russia’s participation had changed little, despite dramatic changes in Russian foreign policy and the international terrain during that period. This project takes the point further by going beyond the low-level, low-status regional cooperation in the Arctic Council and examining Russia’s engagement over time in more recent, higher stakes bilateral cooperation with key Arctic partners.
Finansiering
The project is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence