RUSSIA IN THE ARCTIC, Stephen J. Blank, Editor, July 2011

153 Pages·2011·0.64 MB·English

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Strategic Studies Institute Monograph
RUSSIA IN THE ARCTIC
Stephen J. Blank
Editor
July 2011
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ISBN 1-58487-496-1
ii
CONTENTS
Foreword .........................................................................v
Introduction ..................................................................vii
1. Russia in the Arctic: Challenges to U.S. Energy
and Geopolitics in the High North ........................1
Ariel Cohen
2. The Arctic: A Clash of Interests or Clash of
Ambitions ................................................................43
Alexandr’ Golts
3. Russian Military Presence in the High North:
Projection of Power and Capacities
of Action ..................................................................63
Marlène Laruelle
4. The Evolving Arctic Security Environment:
An Assessment .......................................................91
Katarzyna Zysk
About the Contributors .............................................139
iii

FOREWORD
This volume on the Arctic is the last volume in
the set of five based on the Strategic Studies Institute
(SSI)-U.S. State Department conference on Russia
held in January 2010. The Arctic’s importance to the
United States and to the international community has
grown by virtue of its enormous energy holdings and
the prospect of increased year-round navigation due
to climate change. Given its proximity to Russia and
that country’s dependence on energy for its economic
growth and development, this area’s importance to
Russia has grown, leading Moscow to make aggres-
sive claims on behalf of its Arctic interests.
Russia’s claims have triggered considerable anxi-
ety among other Arctic states. These considerations
oblige analysts here and abroad to take regional de-
velopments in the Arctic quite seriously. Therefore,
we are making these papers, which reflect Russian,
American, and European analyses of the motives, ca-
pabilities, and interests of Russia in the Arctic, avail-
able to our readers so that they can benefit from the
authors’ expert insights.

DOUGLAS C. LOVELACE, JR.
Director
Strategic Studies Institute
v

INTRODUCTION
Due to changes in climate and technology, the Arc-
tic Ocean is becoming increasingly navigable. Since
potentially enormous energy holdings have been
discovered there, and the Arctic constitutes Russia’s
northern coast, the area’s commercial significance
adds to its preexisting strategic importance for the Rus-
sian Federation. During the Cold War, the High North
theater held acute strategic significance as the bastion
for Russia’s nuclear Northern Fleet. That significance,
though diminished, still prevails. The Pacific side of
the Arctic is becoming more important as China’s
power grows. The mounting importance of the area as
a source of energy and trade for Russia merely adds
to the Chinese factor. Bearing these points in mind,
beginning in 2007 the Russian government has made
a noisy and demonstrative effort to assert its claims
in the Arctic but has also negotiated with other Arctic
stakeholders, most prominently Norway, with whom
it signed a treaty in 2010.
Given the growing strategic significance of the
Arctic for Russia and other Arctic states like the Unit-
ed States, the Strategic Studies Institute added a panel
on the Arctic to its January 2010 conference, “Contem-
porary issues in International Security,” held at the
Finnish embassy in Washington, DC. The papers in
the present volume bring together Russian, European,
and American analyses of the energy and military sig-
nificance of the Arctic, a significance extending to the
United States and other Arctic states, as well to Rus-
sia. These papers clarify the motives, stakes, and capa-
bilities that Russia brings to the Arctic, thus their true
importance lies in their implications for international
vii
security. Therefore they should help to advance our
understanding of a region whose significance for the
United States in terms of both energy and strategy will
rise considerably in the foreseeable future.
viii