Russia’s Chairmanship of the Arctic Council: Problems and Prospects

Abstract

In May 2021, the chairmanship of the international forum Arctic Council has passed to the Russian Federation. This is Russia’s third chairmanship since the Forum was established. Russia has successful experience of cross-boundary cooperation with other members of the AC. In 2020, the “Strategy for the Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation and Ensuring National Security for the Period up to 2035” (hereinafter S.) and “Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic for the Period up to 2035” (hereinafter F.) were adopted, which nowadays are the pillars of current Russia’s chairmanship. With a purpose to forecast Russia’s chairmanship, it is necessary to examine the features of the Its policy-making. The paper includes a timeline and key issues of the main stages of Russia’s work in the AC, an evaluation of the strategic documents of the Russian Federation’s policy in the North region for the next 15 years and also contains prognosis of the Russian Arctic program of the chairmanship.