The Russians are not coming, at least not to Alaska

Russian Arctic policy is often characterized as “threatening” to its neighbors and the regional status quo.  This tone can be seen in commentary such as the Alaska Dispatch News feature on Feb. 3, “Putin’s call to arms,” in which Russia is “on the march” and making its “biggest Arctic military push” since the collapse of the Soviet Union.  This military-centric theme also runs through a number of recent position papers which emphasize growing Russian “Arctic aggression.”  But this is tactical mirror-imagining of Russian intent which mischaracterizes and obscures Russia’s true geopolitical objectives. This is true for both U.S. strategic policy and Alaska’s own subset of issues.