The place of the concept of ‘human security’ in the strategies of the Arctic countries

Maria Lagutina,D Maksimova

doi:10.1051/shsconf/202111200028

Abstract

This paper is devoted to determination of the place of the concept of ‘human security’ in the modern strategies of the Arctic countries. The article examines the formation of the concept of ‘human security’, the features of human security in the Arctic, as well as the place of the idea of human security in the modern Arctic policy of Russia. Today, the Arctic, being a ‘zone of peace and stability’ in the categories of traditional security, faces a complex of new challenges and threats related to ‘human security’. The author analyses the strategic documents of the eight Arctic countries with a view to reflect the ideas of human security in them. Special attention is paid to human security’s issues in the AZRF. In conclusion, the author points out that none of the strategies of the eight Arctic countries explicitly mentions the term ‘human security’. But at the same time, some elements of this concept are undoubtedly noted in strategic documents: the priority of most Arctic countries is economic security and environmental security, while the rest of the components of human security are found only in certain countries’ strategies.

Highlights

The Arctic has always been imagined as a Terra Incognita, fraught with danger to humans: harsh climatic conditions, polar night, remoteness from developed territories and their inaccessibility, dietary habits, predatory animals, etc
The most politically neutral, but at the same time very important for the region areas of cooperation were tacitly singled out: socio-economic, scientific, and educational, environmental protection and sustainable development. In recent decades, it is in these areas the so-called new challenges and threats for the inhabitants and states of the Arctic have emerged, which are commonly referred to as ‘human security’ and which today form the basis of threats to the national security of most Arctic states
It seems possible to assert that today the problem of human security has acquired a special meaning for Russia in the context of the implementation of one of the most important tasks of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic: sustainable development of the region

Summary

Introduction

The Arctic has always been imagined as a Terra Incognita, fraught with danger to humans: harsh climatic conditions, polar night, remoteness from developed territories and their inaccessibility, dietary habits, predatory animals, etc. In recent decades, it is in these areas the so-called new challenges and threats for the inhabitants and states of the Arctic have emerged, which are commonly referred to as ‘human security’ and which today form the basis of threats to the national security of most Arctic states. In this regard, it seems important to determine the place of the concept of ‘human security’ in the modern strategies of the Arctic countries

The concept of ‘human security’: basic provisions

Human Security in the Arctic

Threats to Human Security in the AZRF

Conclusion

17. Order of the President of the Russian Federation

21. Order of the President of the Russian Federation