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as a resurgent power with an approach to international relations rooted deeply in classical
realpolitik and an inherently conflictual zero-sum game (Zysk 2011). The speech was
delivered on 10 February 2007 and is available at the conference´s website:
http://www.securityconference.de.
4. The military activity includes regular aircraft surveillance patrols by Russia´s long-rangeaviation (LRA) and support aircrafts to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This practice
was resumed in August 2007 after fifteen years long pause. The increase in the activity
was remarkable - 14 flights of Russian strategic bombers along the Norwegian coast in
2006, next year, in 2007, the number was 88 flights, in 2008 the number was 97 flight, in
2009 the number slightly decrease to 75 flights (Zysk 2011). For more information see:
Pål Guttormsen, “Møter færre russerfly”, Finnmarken, 3 August 2010.
5. Such a privileged position of Russia in the Arctic is very unique, because on other
borders (like Ukraine or South Caucasus) the Kremlin doesn’t have such a position, and
is rather challenging the balance of power in terms of geopolitics and strategy.
6. Even though the rhetoric over the Arctic was politically charged, Russia and the other
Arctic countries have been cooperating on a regular basis. The military cooperation
between Russia and NATO countries, such as Norway and the US, has been one
distinctive and exceptional Arctic feature. The first bilateral Russian-U.S. exercise
“Northern Eagle” was conducted in 2004 and Norway joined these exercises in 2008.
Since that time, the exercises have been held every two years in the Barents and
Norwegian seas. For more information see: Pettersen, T. (2014b March 05). USA cancels
joint
exercises
with
Russia.
Barents
Observer.
Retrieved
from
http://barentsobserver.com/en/security/2014/03/usa-cancels-joint-exercises-russia-0503. However, the cooperation has been disturbed this year, when the biannual “Northern
Eagle” was called off after the US announced that it would be cancelling its participation
as a result of Russian invasion to the developments in Ukraine. Furthermore, Canada
boycotted an Arctic Council Working Group meeting in Moscow. As this is the first time
that an Arctic Council meeting was boycotted by one of the state member, this event
remains historical in the Arctic co-operation. Cancellation of these events could have
serious impacts on the future status of relations among the Arctic leaders. Mainly in
regard to the next US chairmanship of the Arctic Council, the other littoral states might
not be willing to include Russia to the negotiation table.
7. Osnovy gosudarstvennoi politiki Rossiiskoi Federatsii v Arktike na period do 2020 goda i dalneishuiu
perspektivu, 2008, Sovet Bezopasnosti Rossiiskoi Federatsii, Retrieved from
http://www.scrf.gov.ru/documents/15/98.html, hereafter “Foundations” 2008.
8. Russian national interests and main strategies in the Arctic were formulated the draft of
the document “Foundations of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic”,
which was approved by the Russian Cabinet, on 14 June 2001. After seven years, on 18
September 2008, President Medvedev approved the “Foundations of the State Policy of
the Russian Federation in the Arctic Up to and Beyond 2020”, which was the first
Russian post-Soviet Arctic strategy. Russia was one of the first among the Arctic states
who managed to adopt such a document (only Norway had its official doctrine for the
North in 2006). Since the Strategy-2008 was of a rather general nature, it should be
Padrtová