Jensen, Caroline Winberg

Pedersen, Amalie Frimand

Sørensen, Emma

Thomsen, Josefine Klysner

The aim of this project is to investigate why the West perceives the actions of China and Russia in the Arctic as threatening. The Arctic is a region of vast resources, and due to climate change these resources are becoming more accessible than ever before. We were intrigued by the fact that a seemingly non-conflict area, like the Arctic, could be a possible centre of an intense rivalry among great powers and a security dilemma possibly intensified by a perceived threat among the West, Russia and China. The theoretical basis for our project is the scientific theory of constructivism. This point of view will affect our entire project in the sense that we understand that the reality as socially constructed and thereby viewed differently according to different perspectives applied. In our analysis we have used the Heartland theory in order to understand the Western maligned reading of Russian intentions and perceived threat to be balanced in the Arctic context, essentially in order to understand what might affect the Western perception of Russia. Our primary theories that we apply to the field of study are Balance of Threat and the Security Dilemma, which are both used in a constructivist framework, despite being realist approaches, as a mean to understand the ideas and thoughts the Western policymakers are influenced by. Both theories will provide a theoretical basis for analyzing how basic premises affect the policy of states because of the influence it might have on how governments read the political environment and additionally determine the level of threat experienced in the Arctic region. Through our analysis we can conclude that the security dilemma in the Arctic intensify due to the four factors; proximity, aggregate power as well as offensive intentions and capabilities, combined with the underlying fear, descending from former actions performed by Russia and China. We cannot be certain of why Russia and China are perceived the way they are in the Arctic, by the West. However, this project argues that there are some correlations between their actions and the realist theories. The constructivist framework contributes to a significant understanding of the factors which are crucial in order to determine the intensity in the security dilemma

Power balance and interests in the Arctic region

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Roskilde Universitet