Neoclassical realism Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The objective of this article is to analyse the “Asia Pivot” US policy during Barack Obama’s government (2008-2016) through the lenses of Neoclassical Realism. With that in mind, this article analyses the leadership perceptions regarding threats and opportunities in East Asia, as well as domestic pressures that influenced the development, implementation and actions of the policy during the Obama administration. The article also analyses how the Asia Pivot policy affected the East Asian countries’ perception regarding US commitment with the region. From the methodology point of view, the article follows a qualitative approach, based in primary and secondary sources as the base of the research arguments. The article concludes that US budget problems, the rise of new leaderships against US expenditure and security actions in other countries, as well as issues involving the US internal power balance, affected in a negative way the Pivot policy. As the policy developed, doubts regarding US willingness and capacity to act in East Asia affected the perception of countries in the region, fuelling militarization processes and security dilemmas in the Asian theater.

- by Conjuntura Austral
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- International Security, Neoclassical realism, USA, Pivot to Asia

This paper aims to analyse the growing enlargement of the spheres of competition from the Middle East into the Horn of Africa. It does so by using insights from regional order and realist neoclassical literature to understand the expansion of regional powers into this area as the result of strategic interactions within their own region. The central argument is that the clashing interests among Middle Eastern regional powers and power asymmetry with Horn of Africa countries are driving an increased security interdependence between the two Red Sea shores. This increasing security engagement by competing Middle Eastern states is producing an insecurity spillover which threatens to exacerbate regional instability in the Horn. It also presents a new role for Middle Eastern regional powers as security providers, particularly in the case of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey. To substantiate this argument, the paper analyses interregional security dynamics by focusing on three empirical cases in the 2015–2020 period: The Gulf Cooperation Council’s crisis, the establishment of a Turkish military bases in the Horn of Africa and Israel’s new diplomatic engagement in Eastern Africa.

- by Federico Donelli and +1
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- International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis, Middle East Studies, Political Science

Brazilian leadership – ratified by its constitution – presents a discourse of peace and cooperation towards the dynamics of the international system. Realism, however, predicts the country’s international posture to be guided primarily on power and on practical and material matters, following its growth in stature in the international arena.
This work evaluates in what extent Brazilian rise is being performed according to realist theory.
The work confirms changing in Brazil’s relative power, evaluate Brazil’s domestic factors pushing the country to defy western major powers, applies event data to identify what are the perceived threats to its security and what is the country's main goal in the international arena.
The work looks for a noticeable effort for strengthening Brazil’s military capacity and external alliances as evidences that the country is in fact starting to “emulate” great power’s behavior to face a competitive world.
The study confirms that Brazilian growth and consequent pursuit of more space in the international arena is being subtly performed according to the realist approach to international politics, although the country is still struggling to conciliate the ambition to play a larger role in the world arena, with a declared “destiny” to do it in a cooperative way, supported by peaceful attitudes.

The ability of nationalism is often questioned whether this philosophy is still significant at a time when globalization embrace by all countries in the world? Presently, there are evidence in growing of worldwide nationalism. Here in the UK, Brexit begin to attract the attention of most social scientists to study its behavior and principles. Brexit is seen as a crucial step towards the protection of security and national identity that is weakening as a result of growing for openness policies in the UK. This study therefore sees the presence of a loophole that interesting to be debated by looking Brexit from the nationalist perspective. Thus, this research have an objective of the study to be achieved which is to identify the factor of identity crisis in UK from the entry of UK into EU to examine UK's domestic politics and its influences towards re-emergence of British nationalism and how it influenced on Brexit and to examine the threat from external and its influences towards re-emergence of nationalism and how it roles in reconstructing UK's national identity. This study has used qualitative methods including library research related with this research. The area of research are UK and EU. After going through the process of debate and argument in this study, this study found that domestic and external factors have indeed influenced the emergence of the Brexit movement where this movement carries nationalism elements in it. This study also found that the re-emergence of British nationalism is due to the most dominant factors which are immigration and foreign workers. This study also found that there is an incensement in the degree of nationalism in the UK based on measurements (1) Attitudes, (2) The rise of nationalist parties (3), Nationalist policies, (4) Nationalist violence and hate crimes.

- by nurarif idris
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- Political Science, Politics, Nationalism, European Union

There is plenty of studies focusing on China's global outreach through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In tandem with this, the extensive literature on China depicts it as the next hegemon to succeed in the USA. Along this line, flourishing ties with various Asian nations, including the Middle Eastern countries, as a result of China's recent foreign policy activism has been addressed extensively. While most research has been stressing the rising assertiveness of China in world politics, only a limited number of studies have touched upon the responses from middle or small powers against China's ascent. Drawing from neoclassical realism, this article contends two levels of analysis for delineating the interaction between Turkey, a middle power, and China, a rising great power. First, the exchange between Turkey and the USA is vital in determining the cordial relations between Turkey and China. Alteration in the American policy vis-à-vis Turkey in the wake of the Arab Spring is relevant to Turkey's growing relations with China. Second, is the rising anti-Westernism of foreign policy elites as part of the alteration in the strategic culture of Turkish politics, which makes Turkey's rapprochement with China possible. Nevertheless, it should be noted that these two levels are intertwined and feed each other. Consequently, employing a neoclassical realist approach, the article argues that the middle powers' stance against a rising hegemon is conditional upon the bilateral relations with the current hegemon and peculiarities of domestic politics.

- by Federico Donelli
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- International Relations, Turkey, Turkish Foreign Policy, Middle East Politics

Abstract
This article examines the longstanding rivalry of Rome and Parthia, which began as an unintended consequence of Crassus’ decisive defeat at Carrhae in 53 BCE. It synthesizes the accounts and opinions of numerous Graeco-Roman writers from the Augustan Age to late antiquity in order to help illustrate the new and interconnected post-Carrhae world and its legacy. The rivalry of the Romans and Parthians became a primary focus of their foreign policies and drastically expanded their perceptions of the world in which they interacted. Even after the fall of the Parthians to the rebellious Sassanid Persians in the 220s CE, the Romans continued to find their three-century-long rivalry with the Parthians of interest and relevant to the changing world of late antiquity.

- by Nikolaus L Overtoom
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- History, Ancient History, European History, Military History

Au cours du XXI siècle, le Brésil est passé de l'indifférence à la notoriété, avant de décevoir l’opinion publique régionale et mondiale. Pourtant, les images de la récente publication par The Economist montrant un Christ Rédempteur s’envolant et un autre effondré occultent un point essentiel : L’ascension du Brésil a été constante par rapport à ses voisins d’Amérique du Sud.
Cet article tente de dépasser l’interprétation des cycles d'euphorie et de déception à travers une analyse de trente années d’uni polarité sud-américaine. Pour cela, il situe l’Amérique du Sud dans une transition entre l’historique bipolarité Argentine-Brésilienne et la prédominance régionale actuelle de ce dernier. Par la suite, il relate les éléments quantitatifs et qualitatifs qui distinguent le Brésil de ses voisins et aux voisins entre eux. En finalité, il considère les relations avec ces voisins depuis ces trois dernières décennies et découvre la logique régional par derrière la montée du Brésil.

- by Juan Pablo Soriano
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- Foreign Policy Analysis, Strategic Culture, Brazil, Neoclassical realism

Παρά το γεγονός ότι η διεθνής πολιτική της Ανατολικής Μεσογείου μας απασχολεί σε επίπεδο πολιτικής και ειδησεογραφίας καθημερινά, η συστηματική έρευνα και μελέτη γύρω από αυτήν είναι πολύ περιορισμένη, ακόμα και στην ελληνόγλωσση βιβλιογραφία. Οι αναλύσεις για την Τουρκία, την ενεργειακή ασφάλεια, τις διακρατικές και πολυμερείς συνεργασίες στην περιοχή, τα ελληνοτουρκικά, το Κυπριακό, τη Λιβύη και πολλά άλλα παρεμφερή ζητήματα παρασύρονται πολύ συχνά από τον όγκο και τη ροή της καθημερινής πληροφόρησης και ειδησεογραφίας. Στην απουσία ενός καλά θεμελιωμένου γνωσιολογικού πλαισίου, το αποτέλεσμα είναι να χάνουμε τη δυνατότητα ανάγνωσης της μεγάλης εικόνας και ερμηνείας των εξελίξεων, τόσο σε επίπεδο θεσμών όσο και σε επίπεδο Μέσων Μαζικής Ενημέρωσης και κοινωνίας. Το ανά χείρας σύγγραμμα επιδιώκει να εξετάσει κάποιες από τις βασικές δυναμικές που συνδιαμορφώνουν τη σύγχρονη διεθνή πολιτική στην Ανατολική Μεσόγειο. Σε αυτό το πλαίσιο εμπίπτουν οι γεωπολιτικές τάσεις και μεταβολές στο διεθνές και περιφερειακό σύστημα, το μεγάλο κεφάλαιο της τουρκικής εξωτερικής πολιτικής, και τα περιφερειακά δίκτυα συνεργασίας με επίκεντρο την κυπριακή εξωτερική πολιτική και τις αντιλήψεις περί ασφάλειας στην περιοχή. Πέρα από την παράθεση στοιχείων και την ανάλυση, σκοπό αποτελεί και η αναγνώριση κάποιων μοτίβων ανταγωνισμού και συνεργασίας που αναφύονται στην περιφέρεια, αλλά και η ανάδειξη της σημασίας της Ανατολικής Μεσογείου ως «νέας» γεωπολιτικής υπο-περιφέρειας.

Is neoclassical realism more suitable for foreign policy analysis than other realist approaches?

This book is the first to comprehensively explore the origins and reasons behind the Sino-Indian border dispute’s intractability. Utilising an array of accurate maps, tables, archival and scholarly research, this book shows how an ambiguous frontier became a contested border and how it has become relatively pacified yet remaining unresolved. Unlike previous examinations, however, this book also provides a theoretically based explanation as to why it is so difficult for an interstate border dispute to be resolved. By examining a wide range of salient actors, from state leaders to the individual governing organisations to the State itself, it is shown that it is usually in their interest to maintain the status quo rather than seek some form of resolution, thereby ensuring that the border dispute remains intractable. With both China and India shaping up to be major powers throughout the twenty-first century, a detailed examination of the major issue of contention between them is more pertinent now than ever.

Queda e Ascensão da Rússia brinda os seus leitores em um ano que marca os 30 anos da Federação Russa e da Guerra do Golfo. Espera-se que esta obra satisfaça os interesses pessoais e acadêmicos de seus leitores a partir de uma visão ponderada acerca do papel da Rússia no sistema internacional. Isso porque não são raras as interpretações demasiadamente russofóbicas em torno do assunto em análise — especialmente após o envolvimento russo na crise da Ucrânia e na guerra civil da Síria. De forma similar, evita-se a retórica russófila acerca da necessidade de um mundo multipolar. Finalmente, este livro enfatiza o contínuo papel da competição interestatal e das elites políticas em torno da queda e ascensão da Rússia ao longo desses 30 anos, a fim de evitar determinismos tecnológicos e econômicos. Diante disso, o leitor tem em suas mãos uma obra transversal que oferece material tanto àqueles interessados em elementos teórico-metodológicos quanto àqueles interessados em aspectos específicos do processo de construção do Estado russo e de suas reformas militares.

The Second World War shattered the self-belief of the idealistic, utopian views of international politics that prevailed during the inter-war period. This gave rise to the political theory of Realism that has since dominated the fields of... more

Artikel ini adalah critical review penulis tentang bagaimana Robert Jackson dan George Sorensen menjelaskan Realisme dalam Ilmu Hubungan Internasional. Tulisan yang ditinjau terdapat pada BAB III dalam buku berjudul Introduction to International Relation: Theories and Approaches yang disusun bersama oleh Jackson dan Sorensen pada tahun 2007.
Dua fokus peninjauan kritis yang akan ditekankan oleh penulis, yaitu (1) penjelasan Jackson dan Sorensen tentang pemikiran Realisme, dan (2) dasar spesifikasi tradisi pemikiran yang dirumuskan Jackson dan Sorensen dalam menganalisa asumsi dasar Realisme dalam Ilmu Hubungan Internasional.

Almost four decades have passed since the Argentina-Brazil balance of power gave way to a Brazilian uncontested primacy in the Southern Cone. The peaceful and cooperative nature of this regional power transition poses an interesting puzzle for structural theories and those concerned with the US-China transition. Why do certain countries accept accommodation more leniently, like Argentina did? I offer an explanatory model and use process tracing to show that key cooperative turns in this bilateral relationship—during the late 1970s and early 1990s—required concurrent structural changes, both at the international and domestic levels. My conclusions suggest, against the prevalent narrative, that cooperation between Argentina and Brazil was not a product of democracy. Instead, peaceful power transitions take place when the costs of confrontation are high and social coalitions are largely redefined in the declining state.

... understood as &amp;amp;amp;#x27;developing, elaborating, and criticizing constructs at a fairly high level of abstraction ... contemporary realist foreign policy analysis, I intend to show that possible solutions to the ... to... more

Ideational variables have frequently been employed in positivist-minded and materialist analyses of state behaviour. Almost inevitably, because of these commitments, such studies run into theoretical challenges relating to the use of ideas. In this article, I suggest that integrating ideational factors in positivist and materialist approaches to state behaviour requires: (1) distinguishing conceptually between interests and ideation as well as between individual beliefs and social ideas; and (2) addressing challenges of operationalisation and measurability. To that end, I employ neoclassical realism as a case study. I argue that a re-conceptualisation of ideas as externalised individual beliefs employed in political deliberation allows neoclassical realists to focus on how ideas and ideational competition intervene in the transmission belt from materially given interests to foreign policy choice. At the same time, it more clearly operationa-lises ideas as identifiable in language and communication. I suggest this reconceptualisation, while consistent with realist paradigmatic assumptions, need not be limited to neoclassical realism. Instead, transposed to different paradigms, it would similarly allow positivist-minded constructivists and institu-tionalists to avoid a conceptually and methodologically awkward equation of different ideational factors.

This essay covers the main characteristics of two main schools of thought in international relations theory: classical realism and neo-realism. The essay attempts to give contemporary politics examples in order to enhance the idea that neo-realism, in fact, serves as the best representation of how modern states behave in the field of international affairs. This paper implies that state-actors have a desire for power stronger that their will to cooperate with other state-actors. This theory is seen to hold since the US left the Paris Agreement due to reasons of self-interest. In addition, countries continue to invest considerable amount of funds into their military and defence sectors in order to maintain their positions in politics. The concepts of unipolarity and bipolarity are examined and are then compared with the current US-China relations. By reviewing theory and examples, this paper concludes that, indeed, neo-realism gives a credible account of contemporary state governance.

- by Astiitah Faddy
- •
- Foreign Policy, Neoclassical realism

W niniejszym tekście podjęto próbę, zestawienia głównych założeń teoretycznych realizmu neoklasycznego i trójwymiarowej teorii władzy. W punktach stycznych, gdzie zbliżone pojęcia, mogłyby wzajemnie się wykluczać, wykazano, że są one albo względem siebie odpowiednie wprost, albo odpowiedniość można osiągnąć poprzez warunkowe zawężenie. Wspomniane pary pojęć to: system międzynarodowy – sytuacja działania, państwo – podmiot władzy, interes narodowy – rzeczywiste interesy podmiotu, polityka zagraniczna – preferencje podmiotu. W przypadku zaś pary pojęć potęga państwa – władza, pomimo ich intuicyjnego skojarzenia należy uznać, że są one rodzajowo różne. Nie tworzą przy tym jednak sprzeczności.

The People’s Republic of China has asserted itself as a South Asian state by showing a keen interest in its affairs. China’s stance indicates that it respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries and is not favourable towards involving itself in the domestic affairs of other countries. However, China’s current relations in the South Asian region are facing a predicament as there is a possibility of some national governments and their domestic constituencies not favouring China’s policies in their countries. Stemming from a Neoclassical Realist lens which underscores the importance of state-society relations in the foreign policy-making of a country, this article analyses the reasons as to why national governments and their domestic constituencies, especially in the South Asian region may have these perceptions and also what type of policies and practices have led to this opposition. The primary objective of the study examines how China’s relations in the South Asian region can be improved in order to create a better image. Following the case study method, the research examines how the public from Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have influenced each of these countries’ foreign policy-making towards China. It was found that China’s foreign policy executive needs to be conscious that the people of South Asia are currently assertive about their governments’ policy initiatives, thus requiring a more conscientious approach. China must be mindful that these concerns could also affect the future of the Belt & Road Initiative. In conclusion, when analysing the South Asian states’ external relations pertaining to China, it can be established that these states will attempt to be more vociferous in their interaction and relations. Hence, China should calibrate its diplomacy to suit modern day requirements so that it does not alienate other countries.

- by Bhagya Senaratne, Ph.D.
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- Foreign Policy Analysis, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China

As the most recent conflict the world facing with today Syrian War and Russian’s involvement in it is worth to examine in the light of many different international relations theories. Here is the question: What reasons and foreign policy approaches push Russia to get involved in a conflict 2000 kilometers away?
Was it just a simple defensive action in order to protect its security interest over an historical ally in the Middle East or just to prevent any possible military intervention by the Western countries? Or is it coming from Russia’s assertive and agressive historical identity which is used to seek a hegemony in the Middle East and the Mediterrenian? What about materialistic demands of Russia on Syria such as natural and energy resources? Which motivations have driven Russia to act like in a Cold War condition?
This paper aims to answer these questions under the light of different theory approaches in order to explain Russia’s Involvement in the Syrian War. Classical and Neo-Realism, Constructivism, Marxism, Post-Colonialism and Globalism will be taken as guides to be able to comprehend this particular case.

- by Nur Özkan Erbay
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- International Relations, Constructivism, Post-Colonialism, Neoclassical realism

The question of whether we are currently in a ‘New Cold War’ or not has been widely debated by the media, politicians, and within the academic field, and as such remains a pertinent issue worthy of exploration. Interactions between the US and Russia over recent years has highlighted some clear tensions within the strained relationship, and the Ukrainian crisis has certainly not helped in dispelling the cold war narrative propagated by a new brigade of cold warriors. This perspective, held by authors such as Edward Lucas, views the Russian state as embarking on a quest to regain the power and prestige that the Soviet Union formally held, and perceives Moscow’s foreign policy to be inherently aggressive and an explicit challenge to the current world order. This paper however seeks to counter the dominant viewpoint which places the two states within yet another conflictual framework, further perpetuating the destabilisation of their current relations. Instead a more nuanced analysis is presented which attempts to give credence to the ‘Cold Peace’ thesis outlined by Richard Sakwa, whereby Putin does not seek to recreate an empire but merely alleviate Russia's disenfranchised position in the contemporary state of affairs. This argument is put forth utilizing the progressive insights of realism’s newest branch – neoclassical realism – which draws upon Kenneth Waltz’s ‘levels of analysis’ approach, whilst innovatively incorporating the theoretical efficacy of operational code analysis (a method of content analysis from the field of political psychology).

The broader subject of this study relates to the reasons why states emulate the military technologies and organizational structures one another. It focuses on large-scale emulation, those that encompasses the entire military system, instead of the mere adoption of weapons systems or punctual adjusts in the existing practices. In this sense, its main goal is to analyze and to explain the absence and the presence of a large-scale military reform in Russia after the post-Cold War period, with a special emphasis on what regards its level of external threat, state capacity, proven ineffectiveness and the large-scale emulation process that began after the Russo-Georgian War. In order to do so, this master thesis makes use of Neoclassical Realism as well as Historical Comparative Method and use of process tracing tool. It aims to answer the following question: why Russia set in motion its military reform in 2008? The hypothesis is that Russia has initiated it military reform in 2008 due to concomitant existence of: i) a high level of external threat (absence of strategic stability or in risk); ii) high level of state capacity (state capable of extracting and mobilizing resources) and; iii) presence of proven ineffectiveness (Russo-Georgian War). Finally, it argues that to equate the absence of a balanced distribution of material capacities in the international system, during the post-Cold War, to the lack of balancing by other states and, consequently, decreeing the end of the dynamics of the balance of power in unipolarity is only possible if one ignores the main dynamics of the balance of power, namely internal balancing. In sum, the dynamics of the balance of power did not cease in the post-Cold War period, especially if Russia's military reform is understood as an internal balancing strategy of large-scale military emulation aimed at balancing the United States in order to maintaining strategic stability.

Th e main goal of the article is to discuss whether neoclassical realism (NCR), described as the most recent realist research programme might be perceived as a fruitful way of integrating IR theory with the assumptions of foreign policy analysis (FPA). Consequently , the research question that has to be answered, is whether the NCR has succeeded as a new research programme developed as an attempt to give the Waltzian theory more explanatory power. Th e article starts with a critical analysis of the main assumptions of the NCR, aft er which it focuses on FPA defi ned as a subdiscipline of IR. Th e third part of the text draws the attention to the neoclassical realism's integration of 'in-tervening variables' that bring FPA insights into the realist theoretical paradigm. It is argued that apart from numerous theoretical fl aws, there is still a possible way to develop its theoretical depth through careful borrowing from FPA. After all, there is no 'truth' out there waiting for discovery by one all-embracing theory. We are, therefore, in the business of dealing with competing theories and explanations, and in this light FPA has aided, and can continue to aid, the study of international relations. Steve Smith (1986, p. 25) The article draws the readers' attention to the relation between neoclassical realism (NCR) and selected theoretical assumptions associated with foreign policy analysis (FPA), which, according to some scholars' opinion, over the last 25 years has been largely ignored by almost all the IR theories. Therefore, Juliet Kaarbo (2015, pp. 189-215) emphasized that the current IR is marked by a paradox re-1 For many helpful comments and suggestions, I would like to thank Stefano Guzzini from the Danish Institute for International Studies and the Uppsala University.

In early 2014, Russian forces entered Crimea and after a successful referendum, annexed the territory to Russia. The dynamics of Russian foreign policy towards Crimea are complex and multifaceted. There is extensive amount of international relations literature that discusses Russian foreign policy that led to the 2014 Crimean War. Neorealists argue that this was a response to Western policies of NATO expansion, EU enlargement and democracy promotion in Eastern Europe. Constructivists blame the history of hostile relations between Russia and the West shaping a Cold War mentality, as well as the threats that Moscow believes Russian citizens faced from Ukrainian radicals and extremists after Euromaidan. Liberalism makes it all about competing economic interests of Russia and the EU. However, there are many other theoretical and empirical complexities and nuances that can help explain Putin’s decision to annex Crimea. This paper will explore the relative theoretical and empirical understandings of the international crisis in Crimea under the international relations theories of neorealism, constructivism and liberalism and disclose the variations and complexities that are inherent within and outside these explanations, as discussed by intellectuals, political experts and media.

- by Sean Johnston
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- History, Art History, French History, French Revolution

Objective/context: this article addresses the causes of the virtual disintegration of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) from the perspective of analytical eclecticism, sequentially combining rival explanations such as neoclassical realism, institutional liberalism, and social constructivism. Its objective is to offer a convincing explanation about the organization’s fate that integrates the best of the multiple theoretical alternatives in the study of post-hegemonic South American regionalism. Methodology: our approach is documentary and part of the review of the main recent works on UNASUR, since its rise, peak and fall, from the perspective of analytical eclecticism. We combine specialized literature that starts from the three main approaches of the Theory of International Relations. Conclusions: we found that the explanations offered from the three analytical approaches are not contradictory but complementary. The creative combination of different approaches to International Relations improves understanding of Latin American regionalism. Analysis of the disintegration of UNASUR reveals structural challenges and stressors for South American regionalism. Originality: our analysis is part of the debate on the end of the Theory of International Relations, which criticizes the continuity of inter-paradigmatic tensions in the discipline. This is the first approximation of analytical eclecticism in the study of South American regionalism.

For centuries, the Arctic has been depicted as a giant desert of ice, an unproductive terra nullius deprived of any strategic value. However, as geopolitical and geophysical change is bringing this neglected region into the spotlight and many powers' foreign policy agendas, such misconception could not be any far from reality. On the one hand, indeed, increased levels of pollution and global warming, together with the vast and constant rise of primary energy demand worldwide (+36% between 2008 and 2035), put Arctic environments at even higher risk of deterioration than previously forecasted. On the other hand, at the same time, some of the "Arctic 5" policymakers started conceiving the eventuality of an ice-free Arctic by the "northern summer" of 2050 as a profitable opportunity to develop energy resources and exploit waterways previously trapped under ice. Such is Russia's case, the country owning the most considerable Arctic coastal extension and the most of expected hydrocarbon and mineral resources, estimated to amount to 8% of the world's hydrocarbon reserves and 17% of undiscovered world oil and natural gas. As a result, Russian political discourse started portraying the Russian Arctic Zone (RAZ) as the new gold mine of its resource-based economy, if not as an El Dorado for attracting investments, developing infrastructural networks, and transforming Siberia into a logistic and commercial hub through the Northern Sea Route. Henceforth, the purpose of this thesis is to explore the "scramble for the Arctic" from Moscow's perspective, to assess the role of regional energy security in the formulation of Russia's Arctic policies, and to critically forecast the challenges, perspectives, and approaches of the Russian Federation relating to the regional framework. The main conclusion is that Moscow, differently than in other contexts (i.e., Ukraine, Southern Caucasus), is oriented towards a less assertive and more cooperative approach in order to attract foreign investments and partnerships to develop national interest in the Arctic.