ABSTRACT
In recent years there has been an abundance of studies, reports, articles and statements presenting the Arctic as a new frontier for resource extraction and sea lanes of communication. One of the leading champions of the new Arctic has been the Norwegian government. In 2008, the US Geological Survey estimated that 400 oil and gas fields north of the Arctic Circle accounted for ‘almost 10 percent of the world’s known conventional petroleum resources. Increased interest in the Arctic and wariness about the potential for confrontation has also focused on the possibility of new shipping routes. Scholars and policymakers who are focused on the overhyped challenges and opportunities related to petroleum, shipping routes, military competition, mining and fisheries in the new Arctic may be overlooking the real challenge to the region: Russia’s military modernisation and the country’s reemergence as a great power in Europe and the North Atlantic.
