Looking Up to the West

Abstract

Russian critics of the delimitation agreement in the Barents Sea see Norway as the embodiment of deceitfulness and cunning, a nation ready to do anything to undermine Russia as an Arctic rival. But they also admire Norway for behaving as a state in pursuit of economic gain and security would act. They criticize their own authorities, who are either unable or unwilling to defend Russian interests with the same vigour and determination. The author argues that critics avail themselves of the narrative resources available to them in order to defend their own position, reviving in their discourse the age-old picture of the West as a collection of nations intent on harming Russia.