This book is devoted to the analysis of all aspects of the current Arctic policy of Russia, the main strategic interests of Russia and the basics of the current Russian Policy in the region taking into account new global trends. This monograph ambitions to compile in one comprehensive study domestic and international aspects of modern Russian Arctic policy, based mainly on Russian sources that allowed the author to reveal the specifics of Russian approach to modern Arctic issues. It raises a set of important research questions: What are the main interests of Russia in the modern Arctic? What areas are the priorities in the Russian Arctic policy? Who governs the Russian Arctic? How are decisions on the Arctic made in Russia? What kind of problems is faced the Russian Arctic in global epoch? How do bilateral and multilateral relations between Russia and other Arctic states impact regional developments in the Arctic? How is Russia dealing with non-Arctic states and non-state Arctic actors? How are Russia's domestic and foreign policy in the Arctic interrelated? How is Russia’s Arctic policy likely to evolve in the future, in a changing global context? The book argues that nowadays the Arctic vector is one of the main priorities for Russia’s domestic and foreign policies and, undoubtedly, Russia’s future is connected with development of the Arctic – a region occupying a large part of the country’s territory. On the one hand, the main purpose of the current Arctic policy of Russia is the ‘re-development’ and modernization of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF) after the period of following the breakup of the USSR that was detrimental to the Russian Arctic policies. Moreover, today the ‘re-development’ of the Arctic is the most important prerequisite of the restoration of Russia’s great power status. On the other hand, it is obvious that current Russia’s Arctic strategy should be duly adapted to the new global realities – not only the ones formed in the wake of the breakup of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, but also to the latest developments as ‘globalization’.

This book offers the first comprehensive examination of Russia's Arctic strategy, ranging from climate change issues and territorial disputes to energy policy and domestic challenges. As the receding polar ice increases the accessibility of the Arctic region, rival powers have been maneuvering for geopolitical and resource security.

This book examines how recent fundamental changes influence Sino-Russian relations and the wider long-term implications of the revolving Sino-Russian dynamic on international affairs. It brings together leading scholars to examine recent developments across the whole relationship – from grand strategy and global governance, to bilateral energy and military ties, and regional interaction in Central Asia, Northeast Asia, and the Middle East. The Sino-Russian relationship boasts major achievements, but also reveals important differences and latent tensions. The project is intended for policy-makers, academics and students of strategic studies, diplomacy studies, Chinese politics, Russian politics and foreign policy.

For over five hundred years the Russians wondered what kind of people their Arctic and sub-Arctic subjects were. "They have mouths between their shoulders and eyes in their chests," reported a fifteenth-century tale. "They rove around, live of their own free will, and beat the Russian people," complained a seventeenth-century Cossack. "Their actions are exceedingly rude. They do not take off their hats and do not bow to each other," huffed an eighteenth-century scholar. They are "children of nature" and "guardians of ecological balance," rhapsodized early nineteenth-century and late twentieth-century romantics. Even the Bolsheviks, who categorized the circumpolar foragers as "authentic proletarians," were repeatedly puzzled by the "peoples from the late Neolithic period who, by virtue of their extreme backwardness, cannot keep up either economically or culturally with the furious speed of the emerging socialist society."Whether described as brutes, aliens, or endangered indigenous populations, the so-called small peoples of the north have consistently remained a point of contrast for speculations on Russian identity and a convenient testing ground for policies and images that grew out of these speculations. In Arctic Mirrors, a vividly rendered history of circumpolar peoples in the Russian empire and the Russian mind, Yuri Slezkine offers the first in-depth interpretation of this relationship. No other book in any language links the history of a colonized non-Russian people to the full sweep of Russian intellectual and cultural history. Enhancing his account with vintage prints and photographs, Slezkine reenacts the procession of Russian fur traders, missionaries, tsarist bureaucrats, radical intellectuals, professional ethnographers, and commissars who struggled to reform and conceptualize this most "alien" of their subject populations.Slezkine reconstructs from a vast range of sources the successive official policies and prevailing attitudes toward the northern peoples, interweaving the resonant narratives of Russian and indigenous contemporaries with the extravagant images of popular Russian fiction. As he examines the many ironies and ambivalences involved in successive Russian attempts to overcome northern—and hence their own—otherness, Slezkine explores the wider issues of ethnic identity, cultural change, nationalist rhetoric, and not-so European colonialism.

This book examines Arctic defense policy and military security from the perspective of all eight Arctic states. In light of climate change and melting ice in the Arctic Ocean, Canada, Russia, Denmark (Greenland), Norway and the United States, as well as Iceland, Sweden and Finland, are grappling with an emerging Arctic security paradigm. This volume brings together the world's most seasoned Arctic political-military experts from Europe and North America to analyze how Arctic nations are adapting their security postures to accommodate increased shipping, expanding naval presence, and energy and mineral development in the polar region. The book analyzes the ascent of Russia as the first 'Arctic superpower', the growing importance of polar security for NATO and the Nordic states, and the increasing role of Canada and the United States in the region.

Urban areas in Arctic Russia are experiencing unprecedented social and ecological change. This collection outlines the key challenges that city managers will face in navigating this shifting political, economic, social, and environmental terrain. In particular, the volume examines how energy production drives a boom-bust cycle in the Arctic economy, explores how migrants from Muslim cultures are reshaping the social fabric of northern cities, and provides a detailed analysis of climate change and its impact on urban and industrial infrastructure.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the Chinese-Russian bilateral relationship, grounded in a historical perspective, and discusses the implications of the burgeoning 'strategic partnership' between these two major powers for world order and global geopolitics. The volume compares the national worldviews, priorities, and strategic visions for the Chinese and Russian leadership, examining several aspects of the relationship in detail. The energy trade is the most important component of economic ties, although both sides desire to broaden trade and investments. In the military realm, Russia sells advanced arms to China, and the two countries engage in regular joint exercises. Diplomatically, these two Eurasian powers take similar approaches to conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, and also cooperate on non-traditional security issues including preventing coloured revolutions, cyber management, and terrorism. These issue areas illustrate four themes. Russia and China have common interests that cement their partnership, including security, protecting authoritarian institutions, and re-shaping aspects of the global order. They are key players not only influencing regional issues, but also international norms and institutions. The Sino-Russian partnership presents a potential counterbalance to the United States and democratic nations in shaping the contemporary and emerging geopolitical landscape. Nevertheless, the West is still an important partner for China and Russia. Both seek better relations with the West, but on the basis of 'mutual respect' and 'equality'. Lastly, Russia and China have frictions in their relationship, and not all of their interests overlap. The Sino-Russian relationship has gained considerable momentum, particularly since 2014 as Moscow turned to Beijing attempting to offset tensions with the West in the aftermath of Russia's annexation of Crimea and intervention in Ukraine. However, so far, China and Russia describe their relationship as a comprehensive 'strategic partnership', but they are not 'allies'.

Long at the margins of global affairs and at the edge of our mental map of the world, the Arctic has found its way to the center of the issues which will challenge and define our world in the twenty-first century: energy security and the struggle for natural resources, climate change and its uncertain speed and consequences, the return of great power competition, the remaking of global trade patterns In The Future History of the Arctic, geopolitics expert Charles Emmerson weaves together the history of the region with reportage and reflection, revealing a vast and complex area of the globe, loaded with opportunity and rich in challenges. He defines the forces which have shaped the Arctic's history and introduces the players in politics, business, science and society who are struggling to mold its future. The Arctic is coming of age. This engrossing book tells the story of how that is happening and how it might happen -- through the stories of those who live there, those who study it, and those who will determine its destiny.

Perfect Imbalance seeks to answer one of the most important outstanding questions in twenty-first century politics: how close are Putin's Russia and Xi's China?Written by a scholar fluent in both Chinese and Russian, this book examines the current China-Russia partnership from several perspectives. First, what Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and their respective foreign policy establishments publicly say about the relationship between the countries. Second, how the two establishments frame their tangible cooperation on matters such as security, the Arctic, space, and international relations with other Eurasian countries. Finally, the book examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon Sino-Russian relations. Putin and Xi's stories, where possible, are cross-checked with what is really happening.Perfect Imbalance argues that although Russia has not pivoted towards China, and although there is no official Sino-Russian alliance is in sight, the relationship will continue to grow and expand in search for a perfect imbalance.