Elana Wilson Rowe

Coming into the cold: Asia's Arctic interests

In their Arctic strategy documents, the five Arctic coastal states (Canada, Greenland/Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the USA) all point to increased traffic and regional activity as a promising economic possibility and a security and governance challenge. These developments have not gone unnoticed by non-Arctic states who have demonstrated an increasing interest in the region, most noticeably through their successful applications to gain permanent observer status in the preeminent regional forum – the eight-country Arctic Council. We argue that the rising interest of non-Arctic actors highlights some interesting questions about how governance in the region will develop and how Arctic states envision the regions global significance. This article engages with questions about Arctic governance through a study of the Arctic interests of four Asian states (China, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea) and how Arctic states are meeting this increased interest. We focus on the varied reception of non-Arctic states by established Arctic actors, namely the USA, Russia, and Norway, and how they have reacted to the idea of Asian observer states in the Arctic Council. This study is primarily based on a set of qualitative interviews with civil servants and nonstate actors engaged in Arctic governance, media reports and primary documents.

A New Kind of Arctic Power? Russia's Policy Discourses and Diplomatic Practices in the Circumpolar North

The aim of this article is to examine what the geopolitics of the Arctic look like as seen from the largest Arctic state. How are narratives about the development of the region received, reworked and produced in a Russian context? We find that Russian policy actors distance themselves from discourses of Arctic conflict and geopolitical competition, and examine how this approach may serve some of Russias key interests in the region. We further argue that the key tension in the Arctic region is not along the conflict/cooperation axis, but rather lies in the tricky process of delineating between international cooperation and national sovereignty in tackling Arctic problems. In attempting to illustrate the various voices, ideas and interests that shape Russias policy understanding of the Arctic and its challenges and opportunities, we draw upon a media analysis and a set of qualitative interviews with representatives of the five Arctic states.

A dangerous space? Unpacking state and media discourses on the Arctic

Abstract “Race for the Arctic” and the “New Cold War” are common newspaper headlines when it comes to coverage of Arctic affairs. In popular media, the Arctic is often portrayed as a zone of potential conflict – with unresolved boundary issues, rapidly changing sea ice cover and tempting natural resources forming a potentially explosive political cocktail. On the other hand, the region possesses a strong track record of post-Cold War peace and cooperation and political leaders and civil servants representing Arctic states have, in recent years, become a coordinated chorus extolling the peacefulness of the region. This article illustrates how the Arctic is represented as a zone of potential conflict in the media through a sampling of international media and an in-depth case study of how the potential for Arctic conflict is discussed in a mainstream Russian newspaper. I argue that these different ‘framings’ or representations of Arctic politics have significance for the kind of politics that can be pursued ...Abstract “Race for the Arctic” and the “New Cold War” are common newspaper headlines when it comes to coverage of Arctic affairs. In popular media, the Arctic is often portrayed as a zone of potential conflict – with unresolved boundary issues, rapidly changing sea ice cover and tempting natural resources forming a potentially explosive political cocktail. On the other hand, the region possesses a strong track record of post-Cold War peace and cooperation and political leaders and civil servants representing Arctic states have, in recent years, become a coordinated chorus extolling the peacefulness of the region. This article illustrates how the Arctic is represented as a zone of potential conflict in the media through a sampling of international media and an in-depth case study of how the potential for Arctic conflict is discussed in a mainstream Russian newspaper. I argue that these different ‘framings’ or representations of Arctic politics have significance for the kind of politics that can be pursued in the region and discuss how a certain kind of geopolitical reasoning contributes to seeing the Arctic as a latent space of danger and conflict.

Arctic hierarchies? Norway, status and the high north

This article focuses on one potential motivation for a states behaviour in international affairs, namely status-seeking, in order to shed light on Norways Arctic politics and to discuss the role of hierarchies in Arctic politics more generally. The idea that a states political elite seek national security and economic gain is well established in international relations (IR) literature. However, another key motivation of human behaviour – seeking status and respect – is frequently overlooked as a potential factor shaping states’ behaviour. The argument begins with a brief review of post-cold war Arctic politics followed by a discussion of the status-related literature in IR. Norways position in the Arctic Council (AC) and in bilateral relations with Russia is then examined, with particular attention paid to the extent to which other Arctic states acknowledge and confirm Norways status claims. Norways status as an information provider, a convener and a bridge to Russia gives the country a degree of influence in Arctic multilateral settings. Given the Arctic regions relatively peaceful nature and the emphasis on circumpolar cooperation, space has been made for creative approaches to status. Size and military or economic greatness are not always decisive factors for taking a lead in todays Arctic politics.

The future, the foreign and the public–private divide: Socio-political discourses around Skolkovo

This article takes an in-depth look at the establishment of a technology and educational complex outside of Moscow dedicated to promoting innovation. The set of interrelated initiatives, which are referred to in this article as the ‘Skolkovo project’, were centerpieces of Medvedevs much touted efforts to ‘modernize’ the Russian economy during his presidential period. While others have examined the Skolkovo project with a macroeconomic perspective and an eye towards predicting whether it (and Russias innovation policy more generally) can succeed, a different approach is taken here. Rather than evaluating Skolkovos viability, the aim is to identify elite socio-political discourses surrounding the construction of Skolkovo. How particular moments are navigated – for example, securing a balance between government and private actors in the Skolkovo project or seeking networks internationally – can be seen as illustrative of how broader challenges in Russian governance are being (or failing to be) addressed. The case study is based in a content analysis of 310 Skolkovo-related texts (interviews, political speeches, articles) published in the state-owned newspaper Rossikaya Gazeta.

Afterword: 6400 Kilometres Away—But Not a Policy World Apart

The Afterword presents two key findings from this volume. First, while numerous new strategy documents and instruments have been adopted in recent years, contributing authors voice concern about the steps Moscow has taken to translate lofty ideas into practical policies. Second, the key initiatives were formulated well before the current crisis in Russia’s relations with the West. While a certain rebalancing of the Western and Eastern vectors is taking place, there is still a long way to go before Russia’s ‘window to the East’ can match its ‘window to the West’. Only long-term commitment on the part of Moscow can transform the Russian Far East from a neglected periphery and military outpost into a viable gateway to the Asia-Pacific.

Gateway or Garrison? Border Regions in Times of Geopolitical Crisis

Russia’s border regions have had moments as open ‘gateways’ to cooperation. More often, however, the border has been viewed as a ‘garrison’: an outpost of state power. This chapter places the Russian Far East in the broader context of Russia’s pursuit of economic development and security concerns, noting that Russian foreign policy is not necessarily uniform: there are elements of compartmentalization/disaggregation along geographical vectors. The chapter broaches the question that informs all case studies in this volume: has Russia intensified its diplomatic and economic outreach to its eastern border areas and beyond because of the recent breakdown in relations with the West—or would such a shift have taken place anyway, given the economic pull of the Asia-Pacific region?

The Shared Terrain of Science and Politics

This concluding chapter brings together the findings of the preceding chapters and returns us to examining the broad lines of how experts and expert knowledge have factored into Russia’s climate policymaking. First, one intriguing puzzle about timing — namely the growing Russian political support of international climate assessment conclusions after ratification of the Kyoto Protocol — is examined. This puzzle suggests that the dynamics of expert intervention may vary according to whether the country has been at the forefront of an international policy field has developed or more of a ‘laggard’. I then present some observations on how climate science has been vetted and deemed appropriate for policy use for Russia, drawing upon the framework and indicators of a civic epistemology approach to organize these observations.

Russia in International Climate Politics

This chapter turns to Russia’s international representatives in climate work and examines the various aims and practices that Russian actors bring to the climate negotiations table and to international scientific co-operation. Two examples are examined in particular that allow us to see how expert norms and political concerns may interact in shaping what Russia does in the complex landscape of international climate work. These are: 1) the participation of Russian climate scientists in international climate assessment processes and 2) the promotion of the climate significance of Russia’s vast boreal forests in international climate negotiations. These examples highlight how both groups of actors — climate negotiators and internationally active Russian climate scientists — face a shared challenge in acting as ‘go-betweens’. They belong in part to policy or science communities at the international level, whose practices and traditions are not always easy to translate into Russian domestic environments.

Russia’s Domestic Politics of Climate Change

This chapter poses a number of questions about how the process of making climate policy has played out domestically in Russia. The aim is to make sure that the policy’ side of the science-policy interface comes into sharper focus in order to understand the policy landscape in which climate scientists and other experts may seek to or be called upon to operate. In focusing on processes rather than outcomes, this inquiry seeks to capture some of the politics involved in the making of climate policy by covering not only forgenerally accepted causal factors and driving forces, but also for the performances and rituals that fulfil national expectations about policymaking. We explore how climate change came on the policy agenda, who has been involved in this process and how climate change has become linked to other domestic policy challenges, like modernization and energy efficiency.