Russian Arctic Frontier: Paradoxes of Development

The article discusses contradictions and paradoxes of the development of the Russian polar territories consequent on the transformation of the Arctic from a global periphery to a global frontier. The first paradox is a strong contrast between the extremes of poverty and wealth, despite the fact that Russia dominates Arctic production in terms of GRP. Among other contradictions are the following: large-scale import of oil and lubricants into the Arctic with simultaneous export of energy resources; while proclaiming the need for new management strategies for the region, this priority is not reflected in the grant-making policies of major research foundations; although the Arctic is the largest resource region, there are little search efforts for innovation in environmental management and no textbooks on resource economics; Russia's Arctic zone in Asia is becoming a pioneer in onshore and offshore exploration, but it has almost no trained and equipped outposts in coastal towns to perform the needed functions. Lists of Arctic land territories in federal laws contain numerous discrepancies and inconsistencies. Around the world, the Arctic has become a testing ground for innovations in state and municipal management, environmental management on polycentric principles and ecosystem management, co-management and others. For this end, other countries actively involve implicit knowledge of indigenous peoples, as well as unformalized knowledge of old residents and local experts. On the contrary, Russia, which has the longest Arctic territory, invests the least effort. In the short term, the major concern associated with the development of the region will be to ensure that large and small entities of Arctic economy are socially embedded. It will push the authorities at various levels to work on the problem together with the local community, and require corporations to behave responsibly.