Polar Geopolitics

The Northern Sea Route is central to questions of shipping, security, sovereignty, climate change and the exploitation and export of the massive energy reserves in the north of Russia, making the development of the NSR perhaps the most pivotal geopolitical issue in the Arctic this decade. It also represents a window—albeit often less than transparent—into the complexities of Russian domestic politics and the Kremlin’s intentions in the circumpolar North. Ekaterina Klimenko, an expert on Russia and the Arctic at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, joins the Polar Geopolitics podcast to share her wide-ranging analytical insights into this storied and increasingly strategic waterway in the context of contemporary Arctic and Russian geopolitics.