Arctic Russia

opinion on russian arctic rationality

I came across this comment on my blog, I don’t know exactly where it is from so I thought I ought to try and clarify something of the politics behind my posts.

Consider the following:

In addition to this post on the role and place of military forces and the interesting debate with Russia’s special representative from the Foreign Ministry, whicht I covered here, these comments in иноСМИ.ru by journalist, blogger and commentator Mark Adomanis are interesting.  Adomanis is described in some quarters as a ‘pro-Putin commentator’ and certainly his comments on the recent Norway-Russia agreement are in this vein, whatever that might mean.  He writes that, ‘this agreement is further proof that the Russian may well lead to the West constructive dialogue’ regarding the outstanding Arctic issues.  His view is that Russia is merely acting like any state would and that, ‘I think that the agreement with Norway beautifully demonstrates that no matter how you evaluate the Kremlin, it is perfectly able to defend [Russia's] interests peacefully and rationally’.

This is an interesting question.  Based on the lengthy interview with the Foreign Ministry Special representative I would have to agree that there is nothing particularly weird or scary about Russia’s stance on the Arctic.  It follows entirely the legal processes available and their diplomacy vis-a-vis Norway seems fairly balanced.  Then there are, for example, proposals to harmonize Russian and Canadian satellite monitoring systems. 

So far, I think I would have to agree with Adomanis: he is broadly correct that Russia behaves just like any other ‘realist’ state would in relation to Arctic issues, though you sometimes see the odd, more geopolitical opinion.

The main difference, I think, is the way in which national myths function.  In Russia these play quite a strong role in legitimating the national development project, and perhaps even the personal power of a figure like Putin, while, though I can’t say for sure, I expect the average Canadian is slightly less concerned.

This last comment is somewhat flippant as there are Canadians who are genuinly worried about an expansionist Russian presence in the Arctic.

Much, I think, will depend on what the UN eventually decides.