Canada’s and Russia’s Security and Defence Strategies in the Arctic: A Comparative Analysis

• Published in: Arctic Review on Law and Politics
• Main Authors: P. Whitney Lackenbauer, Alexander Sergunin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Norwegian
• Published: Cappelen Damm Akademisk NOASP 2022
• Subjects: canada; russia; arctic; security; defence strategies; scipo; hist; Arctic; Canada; Arctic review on law and politics; Climate change
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.23865/arctic.v13.3243; https://doaj.org/article/f7e16bd53b024ff8acb624b611c2791f

This comparative article reveals how the general focus of Canadian and Russian threat perceptions in the Arctic have shifted from a Cold War fixation on hard defence to accommodate soft security issues over the last three decades. Both countries now pay greater attention to threats and challenges stemming from climate change, security, and safety risks associated with resource development and increasingly accessible sea routes. Although concern about military conflict arising from Arctic disputes continues to frame some media discussions in both countries, most strategic analysts and academics have moved away from this line of argument. Instead, military functions now include assertion of Canadian and Russian sovereignty over their respective internal waters, as well as protection of resources in their exclusive economic zones and on and in extended continental shelves; protection of economic interests in the North, including mineral and bio-resources; prevention of potential terrorist attacks against critical industrial and state infrastructure; and dual-use functions, such as search and rescue operations, surveillance of air and maritime spaces, support to safe navigation, and mitigation of natural and human-made catastrophes.