... preferences. Because the United States’ strategic priority has shifted towards China, U.S. participants wondered whether Washington might prefer a “third way” for Russia over a complete bifurcation of the global order in which Russia sides with China.
Russia’s Chairmanship of theArctic Council
The Arctic remains a positive outlier in a receding list of areas where U.S.-Russia engagement is cooperative. Russia’s forthcoming chairmanship of the Arctic Council (2021-2023) provides an occasion to build on decades of cooperative engagement between ...
... nations, militarizing the Arctic brings a great deal of concern for a number of reasons. These include the asymmetric power balance between Russia and other Arctic nations in the region, an increase in bilateral partnership cooperation between Russia and China, a lack of mandate at the Arctic Council to discuss military security issues among the Arctic nations, etc. As a result, I think the NATO build-up and its recent military exercises are counteractions to respond to Russia's militarization of the Arctic region in the event of asymmetric power relations.
I still, however, think that the Arctic ...
... can be argued that the Arctic is a zone of Russia’s strategic interests, and this goes some way to explaining Moscow’s attitude to the presence of extra-regional actors in the Arctic. Russia, like Canada, is keen to strengthen the positions of the Arctic states and is wary of expanding the circle of actors in the region.
For example, Moscow and Ottawa initially opposed the decision to grant observer status in the Arctic Council to China, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Italy, the European Union and a number of organizations, Moscow and Ottawa in 2013, fearing that the work of the Arctic Council would suffer as a result.
This led to the applications of the European Union and ...
The Prospects of Developing Cooperation in the Arctic
When a year draws to a close, tradition dictates that we take stock of the ... ... idea” of an “Arctic summit” did not materialize. Finland will continue to chair the Arctic Council until the spring of 2019, and such a summit would sound a powerful chord... ... confrontation between NATO and Russia would expand, did not come true either. The forecasts of China’s expansion in the Arctic under the slogan of developing the “Polar Silk Road”...
... democratic and advanced “Arctic Circle” concept in favor of a more closed and “inimical” environment of the Arctic Council, where permanent observers have little chance of participating directly in the process of discussing vital issues.
The “Arctic Circle” conference took place on October 12-14, 2013, as had been initially scheduled. We should emphasize a few ... ... in terms of making the discussion meaningful.
The state visit of the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Wen Jiabao to Iceland in April 2012 can be considered the start of the Reykjavik-Beijing strategic partnership in the Arctic....
... China’s involvement in specific economic projects in the Arctic (which constitutes the basis of its regional policy) will primarily depend on the development of efficient bilateral partnerships with each circumpolar power separately.
Russia and China's Arctic Agenda
Photo: wikimedia.org
Eighth Ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council
in Kiruna, Sweden, 2013
At present, the Arctic partnership between Russia and China is at the very initial stage: no official statements at the government level have been made so far regarding joint activities in the region. However, it ...
