Pax Russica: Russia’s Role in the Race for the Arctic

Abstract

I his essay for this issue, “The Ilulissat Declaration,” Klaus Dodds critiques the claim that the Arctic is in the grip of a sea “scramble.” Rather than resembling a “new Great Game,” a term used to describe fierce competition for resources and strategic access in a region, Dodds argues that the decision-making process governing the Arctic demonstrates the maturity of the global strategic order. Countries that were previously at loggerheads have diplomatically resolved their disagreements, Dodds notes. In contrast, Jon Carlson’s “Scramble for the Arctic” focuses upon the many claims to sovereignty in the Arctic, and the lengths to which littoral states may go to secure their own economic, security, and political ambitions in the region. Chief among these states is Russia, which lays claim to the largest portion of the Arctic. Yet both Carlson and Dodds arrive at a similar conclusion: the Arctic is a beacon of international cooperation. While Russia has cooperated with the Arctic Council and the “Arctic Five,” Russia’s increased presence in the Arctic—along with its use of nationalist language and imagery—indicates that Russia’s intentions in the region may reflect more self-interest than Dodds and Carlson suggest. Though other countries have engaged in military and economic build-up in the region, Russia is unique in its implementation—notably, its clever use of nationalism and fortified demonstrations of military power. Dodds begins his essay with a reference to the planting of a Russian flag on the Arctic seabed by a Duma deputy chairman in the summer of 2007. The flag, tethered to a rust-proof titanium pole at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, was placed on the disputed Lomonosov Ridge, a point of ter-