Russia’s Arctic Policy: A Power Strategy and Its Limits

(IFRI) Despite the deterioration of its relations with the West and economic stagnation limiting its room for maneuver, Russia continues to have an ambitious policy for the Arctic region. Moscow sees the Arctic as one of its main strategic bastions, a key region for asserting its status as a great power, and a major source of energy for decades to come. The Russian government has therefore implemented strategies to promote a coherent power and development policy, with some notable successes like the remilitarization of its Arctic borders and the energy development of the Yamal Peninsula. But it has also faced mixed results over the international status of the Northern Sea Route, and in managing population settlement as well as environmental challenges. While the Arctic offers Russia undisputed great power status, this status is not easy to sustain and costly for its federal budget.