Breaking the Ice Curtain

Canada and Russia are the geographical giants, spanning most of the circumpolar world. Accordingly, the Arctic is a natural area of focus for the two countries. Although the end of the Cold War seemed to portend a new era of deep cooperation between these two Arctic countries, lingering wariness about geopolitical motives and a mutual lack of knowledge about the other’s slice of the circumpolar world are conspiring to pit Canada and the Russian Federation as Arctic adver­saries. Are Russian and Canadian Arctic policies moving in confron­tational direction? Can efforts at circumpolar cooperation survive the current crisis in Russian-Western relations, or does an era of grow­ing global competition point inherently to heightened conflict in the Arctic?

Also available in Russian.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Russia, Canada, and the Ice Curtain
by P. Whitney Lackenbauer

Russian Arctic Policy
by Viatcheslav Gavrilov

Canada’s Emerging Arctic and Northern Policy Framework
by P. Whitney Lackenbauer

Arctic Security Perspectives from Russia
by Alexander Sergunin

A Tale of “Two” Russias?
by Troy Bouffard, Andrea Charron, and Jim Fergusson

The New Arctic Strategic Triangle Environment (NASTE)
by Rob Huebert

Concluding Reflections: Russia, Canada, and the Circumpolar World
by P. Whitney Lackenbauer and Suzanne Lalonde

Further Reading

Index

About the Authors

Troy Bouffard, Instructor in the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Program, School of Management, University of Alaska Fairbanks, United States

Andrea Charron, PhD, Associate Professor of Political Studies, and Director, Centre for Defence and Security Studies, University of Manitoba, Canada

Jim Fergusson, PhD, Professor of Political Studies, and Deputy Director, Centre for Defence and Security Studies, University of Manitoba, Canada

Viatcheslav Gavrilov, PhD, LL.D. Professor of International Law, School of Law, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia

Rob Huebert, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Whitney Lackenbauer, PhD, Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in the Study of the Canadian North, Trent University, Ontario, Canada.

Suzanne Lalonde, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Alexander Sergunin, PhD, Professor of International Relations at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and St. Petersburg State University, Russia.