This week (March 16–21), the Russian military began massive, “sudden” military exercises (“vnezapnaya proverka”). The authorities initially announced that the “sudden exercises” are intended to check out the battle readiness of Russia’s Northern Fleet and the possibility of reinforcing it with forces from other military... MORE

The Kremlin has created a new Arctic military command—the clearest and most practical signal yet of Russia’s long-term strategic stake in the High North. Russia’s military Arctic command became operational on December 1. The significance of the change in organizing the country’s military districts or... MORE

Lately, hardly a day passes without another announcement of a new Russian military deployment in the Arctic. Yet, the Arctic’s fundamental strategic importance to Russia is economic: namely, the potential for extracting immense amounts of energy and other raw materials. Undeniably, climate change and the... MORE

The ceasefire in Donbas (eastern Ukrainian region encompassing Luhansk and Dontesk provinces) between Ukrainian and pro-Russia forces, announced on September 5, has been solidified by an additional agreement to withdraw artillery, multiple rocket launch systems (MRLS) and other heavy equipment from the front line. The... MORE

In a move that both exacerbates international conflicts in the Western Pacific and suggests how Moscow plans to proceed in the Arctic, Russian President Vladimir Putin has closed to all outside shipping and fishing the entire Sea of Okhotsk—some 52,000 square kilometers of water that... MORE

Ukraine shows that Russia’s threat assessments are cynical, mendacious, inclined toward worst-case scenarios, self-aggrandizing and self-reinforcing. They betray not just an incipient trend toward paranoia, but also hysteria about foreign threats and a tendency toward grandiosity. Recent developments in Russia’s Arctic policy show that this... MORE

When the Soviet Union disintegrated, many in Europe and the United States talked about building an updated version of the Great Silk Road to link China with Europe via the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus and to help redirect the focus of these... MORE

2013 was a big year for Arctic commerce. But for Russia it was mainly a big a year for the re-militarization of the Arctic. Thus, Russian policy remains trapped between the priorities of commercial utilization of the Arctic and the region’s continuing military importance. In... MORE

This week (September 23), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), held a summit in President Vladimir Putin’s Black Sea residence in Sochi. The Russian-led military alliance is made up of several post-Soviet republics—Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Russia’s allies supported Moscow’s stand on... MORE

On August 7, Norway’s Statoil announced its exit from the super-giant Shtokman gas field development in the Russian Arctic. The Norwegian company, majority state-owned, is writing off its investment into the Shtokman project, booking $335 million (apparently most of that investment) as financial expenses for... MORE