MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. The Arctic Council countries' trend to increase priority of security and defense in strategies emerged from the crisis in relations between Russia and Western states, read materials of research conducted by the Arctic Development Project Office (PORA), obtained by TASS.

The study analyzes key aspects of the Western Arctic states' policies and trends in their approaches to Arctic strategies. Those, besides Russia, are the Arctic Council's member states - the United States, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland. The study is based on analyzed texts of their official Arctic strategies, as well as on the US and Canadian governments' funding of policies on indigenous peoples and defense - based on budget materials and documents.

"The Western countries' widely declared priorities in ecology and protection of indigenous peoples in reality are inferior to priorities of military security and economic development focusing on Arctic resources, the study showed. The planned budget financing of Arctic programs - primarily in the United States and Canada - demonstrates predominance of military spending over investments in social support and environmental projects, which points to the region's growing militarization, the tendency to shift the Arctic strategies' focus towards security and control over resources," the study reads.

Growing military spending

According to PORA, budget funds for certain well-known defense programs related, in particular, to the US presence in the Arctic (more than $6 billion) have significantly exceeded government investments in improving lives of indigenous peoples over 10 years ($1.5 billion). "In Canada, the situation is similar. The country plans $81.1 billion for military needs and $38.6 billion for the NORAD defense system jointly with the United States over 20 years, while investments in indigenous peoples are planned at about $13.2 billion for the next 5-11 years," the materials read.

The US current strategic document, adopted after the Special Military Operation began, is aimed at tough opposition to Russia's Arctic policy, at building up NATO's military presence, and at militarization of high latitudes, PORA's experts say.

"Such agendas highly probably will be reflected in updated Arctic strategies of other Arctic Council countries. Russia needs to review urgently and to take into account new external threats, including those fixed in doctrines, in updating the strategy for development of the Russian Federation's Arctic Zone and national security to 2035," the study notes.

Dialogue is necessary

According to PORA's Director General Maxim Dankin, the institutions of dialogue that previously operated in the macroregion have been at least partially blocked. "However, international dialogue is still necessary to minimize conflicts, and it may be conducted only in case of a clear understanding of the declared and realistically pursued strategic priorities of the neighboring Arctic countries. It would be reasonable to promote comprehensively dialogue with friendly non-Arctic countries, aimed first of all at projects to develop the Russian Arctic and NSR (Northern Sea Route)," he said.

Norway was the first Arctic Council country to have an official strategy in the Arctic (in 2006). By now, the Council's all states have similar guidance documents, and in most cases those are second or even third generation Arctic strategies (except for Denmark, which has a strategy, adopted for the first time in 2011). Within the current decade, the research document reads, the Arctic Council countries will update all strategic documents.

Despite all the differences, there are a number of semantic blocks that exist in all those strategies. Quite similar is the nomenclature of problems to be solved through strategic measures (environmental challenges, the indigenous peoples status, international competition in high latitudes, which explicitly or implicitly suggesting opposition with the Russian Federation and/or the PRC), priority areas of Arctic policies, and announced state motivations, the study notes.

"Russia, having faced challenges of isolation in the Arctic Council, continues to build up its position in the Arctic through development of the Northern Sea Route and through implementation of the strategy to develop the Russian Arctic and national security to 2035. The awareness of new external threats, including those fixed doctrinally, is important in light of work on updating the country's own strategy that was adopted back in 2020," the experts concluded.