The Arctic is a global bellwether for climate change and indigenous peoples' rights and traditions, as well as a "health check" on the durability of international laws and norms. Red Artic challenges the widely held assumption that the Arctic is headed for strategic meltdown, emerging as a theater for a literal (new) Cold War between Russia and the West. Buchanan explains that Putin's Arctic strategy relies heavily upon international cooperation with foreign energy firms and injections of foreign capital: conflict will be bad for business. Russia needs a "low tension" environment to deliver on Russia's critical economic interests. Red Arctic charts Arctic strategy under Putin from how it is formulated, what drives it, and where it's going. In cautioning against assumptions of expansionist intent in the region, Buchanan calls for informed judgment of the real drivers of Russian Arctic strategy.
Autorentext
Elizabeth Buchanan is lecturer in strategic studies at Deakin University based at the Department of Defense's Australian War College, Canberra. Dr. Buchanan specializes in Arctic and Antarctic geopolitics and Russian foreign energy strategy. She is a Non-Resident Fellow with the Modern War Institute at West Point.
Klappentext
Explaining why a new cold war over the Arctic is not inevitable
Renewed tensions between Russia and the West have fueled speculation that Moscow's apparent designs on the Arctic region could help stimulate a new cold war. Vladimir Putin's openly nationalistic ambitions, as demonstrated most vividly with his seizure of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, might seem to justify such concerns.
This book by a noted expert shifts the debate over Russia's strategy from what Moscow could do in the Arctic to the realities of what Putin's Russia likely will do. Dr. Buchanan challenges the widely held assumption that the Arctic is emerging as one of the most important strategic theaters in a potentially dangerous new cold war between Russia and the West. In fact, she explains that Putin's Arctic aspirations rely heavily upon continued international cooperation via commercial partnerships with Western energy firms and Eastern injections of capital-all of which could be at risk in a new cold war.
Three main themes are intertwined throughout the book: Russian Arctic interests; Putin's vision to regain great power status; and the emerging narrative of a new cold war in the Arctic. Weaved together, they dovetail nicely to present a qualitative assessment of Russian Arctic strategy devoid of ideological biases. The unique departure for the book is that it makes the case that Russia's renewed great power ambitions under Putin are not the only explanation for Russian Arctic strategy.
By exploring the broader context of Putin's actions, the book fills a gap in literature. It will be of interest both to specialists and to anyone interested in relations between Russia and the West as well as the numerous questions about how the Arctic region will be exploited-and who will do the exploiting.