ABSTRACT
The Arctic arouses many associations and emotions. Discovery, human bravery, exploration and scientific progress are connected to the 'adventure' Arctic. The Cold War, submarine chases, closed military compounds and local environmental problems are the attributes of the 'battlefield' Arctic. The Arctic cooperation agenda emphasising the grass-roots level has witnessed the revival of so-called 'hard' issues. There are high hopes that environmental change will open up new resources for extraction and, in the wake of economic ambitions, geopolitics is once again taking a more pivotal role in defining the Arctic. Marlene Laruelle, a political scientist focusing on Russian Arctic issues, proposed that three central geopolitical, national-identity and state-construction linked discourses of Putin's Russia are Eurasia, Cosmos and the Arctic. The Russian 'Arctic paradox' is of less profound nature than the ethical problem raised by the global Arctic paradox, as this national paradox is linked to the fluctuating global price of oil and potentially changing ideas about Russia as a Great Power.
