Russian Perspectives on Asian Approaches to the Arctic

Abstract

The vast hydrocarbon, mineral and biological resources of the Arctic, the ongoing climate change, accompanied by the active melting of Arctic ice, and the probability of emergence of new global commercial routes in the Arctic constitute a material basis for the rise in the Arctic’s geopolitical importance. The Arctic attracts close attention from the Arctic states and from a large number of influential countries located far outside its boundaries, including in the Asian-Pacific region. The chapter is devoted to the priorities of the Russian Arctic strategy and to the assessment of a role the Asian observer states could play in the Arctic within the framework of the Arctic Council’s activity.