Summary: | Based on extensive empirical analysis of policy communication, this chap-ter investigates the difference between the Arctic narratives presented by the Rus-sian government to the domestic and foreign audiences. We apply narrative policy analysis (Nye 2004; Jones and McBeth 2010) to demonstrate how the Russian government offers two separate, yet intersecting policy stories. For the domestic audience, it highlights the socio-economic significance of natural (hydrocarbon) resources to the development of the Arctic region and Russia as a whole, and demonstrates persistence in turning the Arctic into the primary resource base ‘against all odds’ (such as the Western economic sanctions and low price of oil). For the foreign publics, it presents the narrative of the Arctic as a territory of peace and stability, emphasising adherence to the norms and principles of the international law Peer reviewed
|