Introduction: Quo Vadis? The Arctic between nationalism and globalism

Abstract

In his introductory article for the special issue of the Polar Journal (2016, vol. 6, No. 2), Sanjay Chaturvedi, referring to the geopolitical situation in the world and, in particular, to the victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election, predicted: ‘Speculations are rife, for example, that there might be a reversal of “protective” Arctic policies adopted by the outgoing administration in the USA along with outright scepticism, bordering rejection, of both climate science knowledge and November 4 Paris Agreement’. In addition to the Trump administration’s rise to power in the United States, with its protectionist foreign trade policies, distrust of international institutions, neglect of arms control regimes, and the withdrawal from the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, a whole host of other factors have contributed to the rise of nationalism in world politics, including the Arctic, and the weakening of globalisation and multilateral diplomacy in the High North. Russia’s relations with other Arctic states have been complicated by a series of international crises (the Ukrainian and Syrian ones, Moscow’s accusations of meddling in the 2016 US election campaign, the Skripal affair, etc.), which in one way or another had a negative impact on the situation in the Arctic. Western Arctic countries, being the EU and/or NATO member-states, have imposed economic and political sanctions against Russia, which has led to the suspension of a number of energy projects in the Russian Arctic (especially of the offshore ones). Cooperation between the Russian and Western militaries has been completely discontinued since 2014. Instead, the US and NATO have increased their military presence in the Arctic, including deploying new troops and weapons and conducting large-scale military exercises in the region. Russia has taken retaliatory measures, including its own military exercises, upgrading military infrastructure, and training and rearming troops stationed in the Russian Arctic. In general, trust between Russia and other Arctic countries has been seriously undermined. Many strategists and policymakers started to perceive the Arctic as a region of potential conflict and insecurity rather than an area of peace and stability. For example,