That’s because complex elite networks extending well beyond the Kremlin’s walls drive these policies. In addition to the large energy, mining, nuclear energy and shipbuilding sectors that extract the region’s wealth, regional governments, civil society groups and the Russian Orthodox Church promote national dominance in the north. Even after the war in Ukraine or Putin’s exit from the scene, Moscow is likely to augment its power in Arctic waters — its elites are not about to lose interest.
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