The History of the Soviet Arctic Development in the English-Language Historiography of the Late 20th and the Early 21st Centuries

Abstract

In the modern context the Arctic region is considered to be an arena for fierce international competition. The need to address numerous political, economic, legal and environmental issues, connected with this region, compels to rethink the historical experience of its development. The history of the Arctic Zone development made by the Russian Federation (particularly the Soviet period) has been studied both by Russian and foreign scholars. This paper intends to analyze the contemporary English-language publications on this topic; as well as to determine their subject matter and to identify the key trends in the English-language historiography of the Soviet Arctic development. The study has found that the contemporary English-speaking researchers (P. Josephson, J. McCannon, P. Horensma) consider a wide range of issues related to the history of the Soviet Arctic. For instance, the scholars write about the conduct of scientific research, administrative reforms and economic development, as well as about environmental issues and problems of indigenous population of the region. The theme of clarifying the role of the Soviet Union in determination of international and legal status of the Arctic region has been emphasized in the literature studied (N. Fogelson, J. McCannon). In the context of the «cultural turn» in the late 20th-century historiography Western researchers (P. Horensma, J. McCannon) analyzed the role of ideology and propaganda in constructing «the Arctic myth», its significance for the Soviet mass culture. The access to the Russian archives and their availability allowed the modern Western scholars to conduct their researches there, that resulted in obtaining a more objective assessment of the real victories and failures in the development of the Soviet Arctic. Summarizing the historical experience of the Russian Arctic development in the late 20th century the majority of Western authors believe that only the full-scale international cooperation will make it possible to effectively address the problems of the region.