Russian comprehensive approach toward Arctic Race

• Main Author: ŚLIWA, Zdzislaw
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wyższa Szkoła Bezpieczeństwa Publicznego i Indywidualnego Apeiron w Krakowie 2014
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Council; Global warming
• Online Access: https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/1861746.pdf; https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/1861746

Arctic has lately slipped slightly from the radar of the International Community as a consequence of the Ukrainian, economic austerity, Ebola spread and also combating radicals like Islamic State. Even global warming is not major topic of news. In spite of this, the Arctic race is ongoing involving all the nations interested in that region considering future profits connected with resources, shipping routes and fishery. Among them Russia is currently a key player in many domains especially as it is treating Arctic very seriously and has already invested into grounding national position there. Present-day peaceful cooperation is very promising but growing military presence in Arctic, especially Russian build-up, is causing more and more concerns about the future. The paper is discussing major reasons of the Arctic race, depicting briefly legal aspects e.g. UNCLOS, international organizations like the Arctic Council and also role of actors there. International disputes are also mentioned especially those related to the Russian Federation, being major player there. The main focus is on Russian interests, economy related competition and also military developments to support national interests. The Western sanctions are negatively influencing exploration of natural resources making Moscow nervous and the country must be treated very seriously to avoid creating new “Cold War” type icy relations and confrontation.