Open research questions in Arctic and Russian Policy Studies

What the literature leaves open

• The gap in understanding how narratives from different countries frame Greenland in security discourse. The gap in understanding the impact of low-tension narratives on the influence of experts.

  Constructing low tension: The role of experts and narratives in the case of Greenland · 2025 · DOI

• The article identifies the need for infrastructure support for the development of the economy of the northern regions of Russia.

  Mechanisms for the strategic development of critical infrastructures in the northern oil-producing regions · 2024 · DOI

• Most historians have passed over the policy's implementation. The policy resulted in a significant change in the size and composition of the British Empire.

  Securing the dominant ‘Place in the Wan Antarctic Sun’ for the British Empire: the policy of extending British control over Antarctica* · 1983 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in understanding territoriality among fishermen, arguing that it should be seen as pragmatic attempts to manage the conduct of fishing.

  Territoriality among Icelandic Fishermen · 1982 · DOI

• The changing importance of the GIUK gap in US and Soviet naval strategy. The implications of these changes for Iceland's security policy.

  Icelandic Security Policy: Context and Trends · 1982 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the discussion of environmental policy formulation in the Soviet Union. The authors argue that Ziegler's conclusion results from too rapid a jump from discussion of a specific economy to discussion of the properties of ideal-typical systems.

  Environmental policy formulation and current Soviet management: A reply to Ziegler · 1981 · DOI

• The lack of overall regional cooperation and regulation in the Baltic Sea area. The need to consider the impact of détente on cooperation in the region.

  Structures of Détente and Ecological Interdependence: Cooperation in the Baltic Sea Area for the Protection of Marine Environment and Living Resources · 1980 · DOI

• The paper suggests that future research should focus on understanding the administrative structures in Soviet-type planned economies and their impact on environmental efficiency.

  Soviet environmental policy and soviet central planning: A reply to McIntyre and Thornton · 1980 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the literature regarding the comparison of environmental efficiency between Soviet-type and capitalist economic systems. The authors argue that prior work has confused the environmental efficiency of an economic system with the perceived extent of environmental disruption.

  Soviet environmental policy and soviet central planning: A reply to McIntyre and Thornton · 1980 · DOI

• The lack of effective measures to reduce pollution and protect the coastal environment. The narrow production-oriented departmental views of ministries, administrations, and enterprises.

  Response of Soviet Lithuania to environmental problems in the coastal zone · 1979 · DOI

• The traditional explanation for the Soviet Union's deployment of SSBNs in the Arctic does not fully account for the operational capabilities of SSBNs in the Arctic Ocean. There is a lack of understanding of the Soviet Union's strategic options in the Arctic Ocean.

  The Strategic Balance and the Arctic Ocean: Soviet Options · 1977 · DOI

• The dispute over the boundary line for the continental shelf is unresolved. The area's strategic importance and potential resources are not well understood.

  Security and ocean law: Norway and the soviet union in the Barents Sea · 1977 · DOI

• The lack of a formal peace treaty between Japan and the Soviet Union. The complexity of the Northern Territories issue and its implications for the balance of power in the Pacific Basin.

  The Northern Territories in Japanese-Soviet Relations · 1976 · DOI

• The increased conflict potential in the polar regions - The need for cooperation among multiple parties - The challenge of regulating sovereignty and jurisdiction status

  The Frozen Frontier: Models for International Cooperation · 1975 · DOI

• The need for international cooperation in the polar regions - The lack of comprehensive treaty regulation for international cooperation - The need for conflict-preventive measures

  The Frozen Frontier: Models for International Cooperation · 1975 · DOI

• The tendency of high officials to ignore long-run problems with great collective welfare implications, - The lack of consideration of the international political environment and high-level decision making context in ocean policy analysis

  International politics and high‐level decision making: Context for ocean policy · 1975 · DOI

• The obstinate unwillingness of the United States and its military bloc allies to reach a complete prohibition of military uses of the seabed. The need to resolve the matter of not emplacing nuclear weapons and other types of weapons of mass destruction on the seabed.

  Problems of legal regulation of seabed uses beyond the limits of the continental shelf · 1975 · DOI

• The facts of the event are still obscure and may be forever unrevealed, - The paper is limited to what is publicly known about the event, - The analysis is based on incomplete information

  Signals, Decisions, and Strategy: The Submarine Hunt in the Sognefjord 1972 · 1974 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of the 1972 submarine hunt, - The paper highlights the need for careful analysis of decision-making in crisis situations

  Signals, Decisions, and Strategy: The Submarine Hunt in the Sognefjord 1972 · 1974 · DOI

• The current lack of a comprehensive regime for the Arctic Ocean region. The need for a solution that takes into account the region's unique strategic, ecological, and political status.

  The Arctic Ocean and the Law of the Sea · 1974 · DOI

• The lack of international cooperation and regulation in the exploitation of the polar regions' natural resources. The need for a distinction between different zones in the Arctic to facilitate future discussions of measures of international cooperation.

  The New Development in the Polar Regions · 1974 · DOI

• The regulation of sovereignty and jurisdiction status is a challenge. The prevention of international resource-races is a challenge. The need for eco-control in the new territories is a challenge.

  New Problems—Old Solutions · 1974 · DOI

• The need for regulation in the new territories is not adequately addressed. The applicability of old solution models to present and emerging regulation problems is unclear.

  New Problems—Old Solutions · 1974 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in the discussion of European security from a Northern European perspective. The Nordic states' different roads to security are not fully explored.

  Five Roads to Nordic Security · 1972 · DOI

• The need to understand the great powers' concerns about the Northern Cap's future in international relations. The lack of analysis on the events surrounding Roosevelt's suggestions for free ports in north Norway.

  The Great Powers and the Northern Cap I940-45 · 1972 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Arctic and Russian Policy Studies

• Recent ship traffic and developing shipping trends on the Northern Sea Route—Policy implications for future arctic shipping · Marine Policy · 2020 · 102 citations
• Potential spatial effects of opening Arctic shipping routes on the shipping network of ports between China and Europe · Marine Policy · 2021 · 55 citations
• Increased maritime traffic in the Arctic: Implications for governance of Arctic sea routes · Marine Policy · 2021 · 51 citations
• Power, authority and security: the EU’s Russian gas dilemma · Journal of European Integration · 2020 · 42 citations
• A framework for assessing the economic impacts of Arctic change · AMBIO · 2019 · 39 citations
• Environmental conflict management: a comparative cross-cultural perspective of China and Russia · Post-Communist Economies · 2021 · 36 citations
• Authoritarian state capitalism: Spatial planning and the megaproject in Russia · Environment and Planning A Economy and Space · 2022 · 31 citations
• Lock-in, paradox and regional renewal · Regional Studies · 2021 · 28 citations
• Equity, vulnerability and resilience in social–ecological systems: a contemporary example from the Russian Arctic · Research in social problems and public policy · 2008 · 23 citations
• Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2 and diffuse authority in the EU: managing authority challenges regarding Russian gas supplies through the Baltic Sea · Journal of European Integration · 2020 · 20 citations

Most recent work

• Through the lens of key stakeholders: evaluating the economic and environmental feasibility of arctic shipping routes · Case Studies on Transport Policy · 2026
• The Role of Private Law and Climate Change Mitigation Along the Northern Sea Route: A Look into the Future · Nordic Journal of International Law · 2026
• Perspectives on Arctic security: an analysis of strategies, presence, and capabilities from ten Arctic and non-Arctic countries · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · 2026
• Building resilient Arctic futures through Indigenous Knowledge and self-determination · PLOS Climate · 2026
• Risk assessment of China–Russia Arctic energy cooperation based on Northern Sea Route utilization with an integrated MCDM model · Frontiers in Marine Science · 2026
• Fish Diplomacy and Soft Power: Russia's Great African Expedition in Context · World Affairs · 2026
• Under Negotiation: Examining the Development of Sámi-EU Arctic Relations Through the Lens of Norms and Political Legitimacy · International Journal on Minority and Group Rights · 2026
• Book Review: To Rule Eurasia’s Waves: The New Great Power Competition at Sea FGeoffrey. Gresh. To Rule Eurasia’s Waves: The New Great Power Competition at Sea. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2020, pp. 363, $ 40, ISBN 9780300234848. · Journal of Eurasian Studies · 2026
• The Arctic Railways – Strategic Arteries, Economic Interests and Political Constraints · Bulgarian Historical Review · 2026
• The Arctic region in contemporary international relations: geopolitics, economics, and environmental risks · Journal of Philosophy Culture and Political Science · 2026

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