armed forces, Russia has maintained a large military presence in the region after the Cold War, as can be seen in figure two by the large amount of military bases in the region. 345 It seems that Russia is determined to maintain a strong showing of military force in the Arctic due its current relationship with the west. As the other four Arctic coastal states are members of NATO, Russia, which deems NATO to have an anti- Russian bias, feels the need to portray national strength in the region to be a deterrent to any potential conflict. Zysk views the Russian Arctic policy as one of both deterrence and engagement occurring simultaneously. 346 This judgement has credit as Russia has continued to trigger tensions in the Arctic through its military actions whilst simultaneously promoting peace in the region. Examples of this can be seen next.
345 Katarzyna Zysk, ‘Military Aspects of Russia’s Arctic Policy: Hard Power and Natural Resources’, in Arctic Security In An Age Of Climate Change , 2nd edn, ed. by James Kraska (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), pp.85-106 (p.85). 346 Ibid. p.91.
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