Russia's Northern Policy

Balancing an 'Open' and 'Closed' North

Author(s): Elana Wilson Rowe
Editor(s): Stephen Aris, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder, Aglaya Snetkov
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Issue: 96
Pages: 2-5
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen; Institute of History, University of Basel
Publication Year: 2011

This short introduction to Russia's northern policies examines Russia's historical and contemporary approaches to the North as a domestic space, the primary features of Russia's international cooperation in the North, and how Russia frames some key Northern issues, namely climate change, hydrocarbons and delimitation of maritime borders. Throughout, it is suggested that Moscow's approach to northern politics evidences a tension between the open and the closed North. In other words, Russia's northern policy encompasses both more outward oriented inclinations, exemplified by cross-border cooperation, and an emphasis on defending its national interests and national spheres of authority.

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