Арктическая политика России. Учебное пособие

Министерство науки и высшего образования Российской Федерации

САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГСКИЙ ПОЛИТЕХНИЧЕСКИЙУНИВЕРСИТЕТПЕТРАВЕЛИКОГО

Гуманитарный институт

Высшая школа международных отношений

М. Л. Лагутина

АРКТИЧЕСКАЯ ПОЛИТИКА РОССИИ

Учебное пособие

Санкт-Петербургский политехнический университет Петра Великого

Санкт-Петербург

2023

Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation

PETER THE GREAT ST. PETERSBURG

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY

Institute of Humanities

High School of International Relations

M. L. Lagutina

ARCTIC POLICY OF RUSSIA

Textbook

Peter the Great

St.Petersburg Polytechnic

University

Saint Petersburg

2023

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INTRODUCTION

Today the Arctic component is one of the top priorities of modern Russian policy. In the 1990s Russia had no strategic vision for the developmentoftheArcticZoneoftheRussianFederation(AZRF)inthenew conditions,onlyintheearly2000stheso-called‘return’totheregionwas announced. Attention to the Arctic is now increasingly evident in Russian domestic and foreign policy discourse. Despite the fact that the first strategic document ‘Fundamentals of State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic to 2020 and beyond’ was approved in 2008 during the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, it should be noted that the attitude to the Arctic has changed dramatically with the accession to power of Vladimir Putin back in 2000. V. Putin set the task to restore the development and manageability of the Arctic territories of Russia and raised the issues of the development of the AZRF to the level of a national project.

Russia’s current policy in the Arctic is based on historical experience and achievements of the past, which gives grounds to speak of continuity in the Arctic state policy of Russia.

The main purpose of the textbook is to give students an understanding of what Russia’s modern Arctic policy is and its main components and directions.

Thistextbookisbasedonaninterdisciplinaryapproach,usingcategories of political science, basics of Russian history and theory of international relations, and foreign policy analysis to cover the main aspects of Russia’s Arctic policy formation at the present stage. The textbook discusses the historical foundations of Russia’s presence in the Arctic, the development of the region at the present stage in the context of Russia’s domestic and foreign policy, and the issues of the region’s sustainable development.

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The relevance of the course ‘Arctic policy of Russia’ is due to the fact that the knowledge acquired by students allows them to expand information about the region under study, get acquainted with the Russian view on the development and development of the Arctic in the 21st century. This textbook will be of interest not only to international students, but also to political scholars, sociologists, historians, and all those who are interested in the Arctic policy of Russia and the development of the Arctic in general.

The textbook consists of three parts. The first part is devoted to a general characteristic of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The secondparthighlightsvariousaspectsofRussia’sdomesticArcticpolicy. Finally, the third part presents an overview of Russia’s foreign policy in the Arctic at the present stage.

P a r t 1

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AZRF: HISTORY

AND MODERNITY

Topic 1. What is the Arctic? Conceptualizing the Arctic

Abstract. What is the Arctic? Definition of the Concept. Theoretical in- terpretation of the Arctic as a geographical, geoeconomic, geopolitical, and ethical phenomenon. Different meanings of the concept ‘Arctic’, various the- oretical approaches to the region. The Circumpolar North, the High North, Ultima Thule, the Far North and Lapland. Different definitions of the ter- ritory in Russia’s north: ‘Arctic zone of the Russian Federation’ (AZRF), ‘Russian Arctic’, ‘Russian north’, ‘the Far North’, and ‘Zapolyarye’. Theo- reticaldebateontheArctic:value-basedapproach,interest-basedapproach, securitization approach and de-securitized (technocratic/instrumentalist) approach.

There are several geographical, political, and cultural geo-names and terms to describe, and many definitions to define, the northernmost regions of the globe.

The Arctic’s common geographical definition is the areas north of the Arctic Circle (66 degrees and 32 min of Northern latitude). Vegetation

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zones and a tree-line and tundra boundaries are used as physical and environmental definitions. From climatic point of view, there is the 10C July isotherm defined as the southern border of the Arctic.

Some social scientists and publicists believe that the Arctic is a historical and spiritual concept, and it is closely related to the concept of ‘Northernness’ (Nordicity) and includes all those territories where peoples with a special ‘northern spirit’ live.

The Arctic as an international region, it is generally accepted to define it as a geographical area that includes, in addition to the Arctic Ocean, parts of the North Atlantic and the Bering Sea, also those territories of the eight Arctic Council (AC) member-states that are located above the ArcticCircle:Canada,Denmark,Norway,Russia,theUSAandIceland, Finland, Sweden.

The Circumpolar North is much used in North America, particularly in Canada; there is, however, a slight change toward to use the term Arctic, as Canada’s recent Arctic strategic documents show.

The High North is recently much used in Norway: The Norwegian 2009 ‘High North Strategy’ claimed that the term of the High North is ‘really a Norwegian perspective’. The term was also used in the ‘Iceland in the High North’ report (2009) but not any more in a ‘Parliamentary Resolution on Iceland’s Arctic Policy’ (in 2011). Also, the European Parliament’s report on a sustainable EU policy for the High North uses the term, unlike the EU Commission’s communication (2008) and its follow-up (in 2012) use the ‘Arctic’.

UltimaThuleisanoldtermusedbytheancientGreeks,andnowadays it is used as a name for exhibition and institute.

LaplandisatraditionalnamefortheNorthCalotte,thoughnowadays it is mostly used as the name for Finland’s northernmost county.

However, when it comes to the Arctic as an international region, it is generallyacceptedtodefineitasageographicalareathatincludes,inadditiontotheArcticOcean,partsoftheNorthAtlanticandtheBeringSea, alsothoseterritoriesoftheeightArcticCouncil(AC)member-statesthat are located above the Arctic Circle (the so-called ‘Arctic Eight’: Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, the United States). This definition has been adop-ted

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in the AC and other intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, as well as at the expert level.

According to Russian approach, the Arctic countries includes the five traditional Arctic countries (theso-called‘Arctic Five’)–Russia,theUSA, Canada, Norway and Denmark – which directly access to the Arctic Ocean and developed the Arctic quite long ago and other three subarctic nations have submitted their claims on Arctic lands – Iceland, Sweden and Finland. Apart from that, approximately 20 non-Arctic countries de- clared their intentions to develop Arctic deposits (among them are China, India, South Korea, Brazil, Germany, Japan and others).

Presently, documents and Russian-language academic literature devotedtotheRussianArcticfeatureseveraldifferentdefinitionsoftheterritory in Russia’s north: ‘Arctic zone of the Russian Federation’ (AZRF), ‘Russian Arctic’, ‘Russian north’, ‘the Far North’, and ‘Zapolyarye’ (the landswithintheArcticCircle).Ingeneral,thesetermsarecloseinmeaning because they denote the same subject, although there are some differences as well. But first of all, it should be noted that this diversity of terms denoting Russia’s northern territories is something to be expected underthecircumstancesbecausethetermArcticperseispolysemicand, so, pinning it down one should embrace it in all its fullness and take into consideration relevant contexts.

The term ‘Arctic zone of the Russian Federation’ (AZRF) was introduced by the Soviet Council of Ministers’ Arctic Commission on April 22,1989.Thedefinitionlistedthefollowinglocalitiesasbeingpartofthe AZRF: 1) in their entirety or partially – northern territories of 8 entities as per the nomenclature then in force: Sakha Republic (Yakutia); Krasnoyarsky Krai; Murmanskaya Oblast; Arkhangelskaya Oblast; Nenetsky Autonomous Okrug; Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous Okrug; Taimyrsky (Dolgano-Nenetsky) Autonomous Okrug; Chukotsky Autonomous Okrug; 2) lands and islands listed in the decree issued by the presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR on April 15, 1926 ‘On Declaring the Lands and Islands in the Arctic Ocean a Territory of the USSR’; 3) inland waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and the continental shelf.

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According to the Foundations of the Russian Federation State Policy in the Arctic for the Period up to 2035, published on March 5, 2022:

a) the Arctic – the Northern Polar region of the Earth, including the Northern edge of Eurasia and North America (except the Central and Southern parts of the Labrador Peninsula), Greenland (except the Southernpart),theseasandislandsoftheArcticOcean(excepttheEastern and Southern parts of the Norwegian Sea), as well as adjacent areas of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; b) the Arctic zone of the Russian Fed- eration – land territories defined by the Decree of the President of the RussianFederationissuedon2May2014№296‘OnLandTerritoriesof the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation’, as well as the internal waters adjacenttotheseterritories,territorialsea,exclusiveeconomiczone,and continental shelf of the Russian Federation.

In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation ‘On land territories of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation’ № 296 dated May 2, 2014 and № 287, issued on June 27, 2017, called ‘OnIntroducingAmendmentstotheRussianPresident’sDecree№296, issued on May 2, 2014, ‘On the Dry Land of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation’ the AZRF is comprised of the following:

–MurmanskayaOblast,Nenetsky,Yamalo-NenetskyandChukotsky Autonomous Okrugs – in their entirety;

–partially – Republic of Karelia (namely, its Loukhsky, Kemsky and Belomorsky Municipal Rayony [districts]);

–Republic of Komi (urban okrug Vorkuta);

–Sakha Republic ( Yakutia) (Allaikhovsky, Anabarsky, Bulunsky, Nizhnekolymsky, Ust-Yansky rayony [districts] [ulusy]);

–KrasnoyarskyKrai(urbanokrugNorilsk;Taimyrsky(Dolgano-Nenet- sky)MunicipalRayon[district],TurukhanskyMunicipalRayon[district]);

–Arkhangelskaya Oblast (the city of Arkhangelsk, Mezensky Municipal Rayon, Novaya Zemlya, the city of Novodvinsk, Onezhsky Municipal Rayon, Primorsky Municipal Rayon, Severodvinsk);

–and finally, the lands and islands in the Arctic Ocean listed in the decree issued by the presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR on April 15, 1926 ‘On Declaring the Lands and Islands in the Arctic Ocean a Territory of the USSR’.

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