Key issues of securing Russia’s national interests in the Arctic

The purpose of this article is to examine the military-political situation in the Arctic and to determine how to secure Russia’s national interests in the region. The methodological foundation of the article is political neorealism, which fully characterizes the situation in the Arctic, where the pragmatic interests of great powers have led to a military-political confrontation. The situation is turning into a ‘security dilemma’: the strengthening of one side stimulates retaliatory actions from other countries, resulting in the achievement of military parity that provides a minimal level of protection for national interests, while also requiring the activation of political efforts on both sides to maintain parity. The authors employ a structural-logical analysis method, allowing them to identify the structural components and problematic nodes of Russia’s national interests in this macro-region. The authors also applied private methodologies of political strategizing and other methods that contribute to achieving the set goal (analysis of scientific literature, document research, study of statistical data, information summarization methods, etc.). The study showed that it is advisable for Russia to develop a strategic approach to solving the problems of Arctic development and securing Russian national interests in the geopolitical space of the Arctic region. To this end, it is necessary to systematically address the accumulated problems by creating a program document based on science that will define specific steps concerning the development of resources, transport, and militarypresence in the Arctic and the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation.