Arctic military security: geopolitical interaction in “the United States-Russia-Norway” triangle

Abstract

It is common knowledge that during the Cold War the Arctic was a region for the global confrontation between the USSR and the U.S. Over the past decades the situation has changed dramatically. Nowadays there are no serious hard security threats to the Arctic states in the region and the soft security agenda is much more important. The article examines an emerging military security system in the Arctic. Special attention is paid to the analysis of threat perceptions, security policies and regional military strategies of the U.S., Russia and Norway as well as to the peculiarities of their geopolitical interaction in the region. The research is based on a number of methods, the most important of which are document analysis and expert opinion methods. Summarizing everything the authors stress that it is crucial to calm tensions between the U.S., Russia and Norway so the animosity does not lead to dangerous military incidents in the Arctic as it may threaten global security in general. Thus, it is clear that in order to stabilize the system of the military security in the Arctic, the US, Russia and Norway should establish a tripartite dialogue based on trust and pragmatic interest.