Russia's ‘appropriation’ of the Arctic: Interests, instruments and identities from the late Tsarist era to the present

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andreas Renner
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 565948514

The escalation of the war in Ukraine in 2022 also marked the end of a period of pragmatic cooperation between the Arctic littoral states. However, Moscow has long pursued a policy of militarising the north polar region and has declared a large part of the Arctic Ocean to be within its geopolitical sphere of influence. This strategy is linked to claims to resources under the seabed and to the increasing navigability of the northern Arctic Ocean as a result of climate change. Most importantly, Russia is continuing a policy of 'appropriation' of the Arctic that was interrupted by the collapse of the USSR. This policy not only serves political, strategic and economic interests, but is also a socio-cultural and ideological project. No other country has settled and industrialised the Arctic, especially its coasts, more intensively or used the ocean as a sea route more often. Russia's Far North serves as a projection screen for national interests and identities - and its history as a legitimation for the supposedly 'natural' privileges of the largest Arctic state. The project examines the history of Russia's 'appropriation' of the Arctic from the late 19th century, when the Arctic Ocean was discovered as a sphere of interest and made accessible by modern technology, to the present day, when the Arctic is moving ever higher up the economic and security agenda of the Russian Federation. The focus is on the contemporary concept of 'appropriation', a revived buzzword from the Stalinist era. ‘Appropriation' [osvoenie] is a euphemism for conquest: the systematic study and utilisation of nature and the 'sovietization' of the indigenous population. At the same time, it refers to the permanent transformation of the region through settlement and the adoption of the North into Soviet ideology. The project analyses both sides, combining disciplinary approaches from political science, ethnology, legal history and Slavic studies. Two sub-projects involving research trips are already in the planning stage: an analysis of Soviet polar medicine as an instrument for adapting to extreme climatic conditions and a deconstruction of the idealised image of the 'Russian North' in politics and propaganda, using the example of the role of Svalbard and other outposts in the Arctic Ocean. The main cooperation partner is the Arctic Research Centre in Sapporo, Japan. The common goal is to produce an interdisciplinary publication through an international conference; such a comprehensive overview of the history and present of the Russian Arctic does not yet exist. It will counter Vladimir Putin's ideological appropriation of the Arctic with in-depth analysis − and allow researchers to exchange ideas and research data. In the long term, the joint project will be institutionalised as a network and developed into a larger project proposal.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Japan
• Cooperation Partners: Professorin Marina Lomaeva; Professor Fujio Ohnishi