Canadian-Russian cooperation in the field of Arctic exploration in the 1990s and 2000s

Abstract

This article describes the interaction between Russia and Canada on the development of the Arctic space. The role of the Arctic in the conditions of an actively changing climate is very important both for the Arctic states that have direct borders with the region and for the whole world in general. The author analyzes the actions of the two countries in the period from the 1990s to  the early 2000s.  Gorbachev’s reforms,  along with  the  active  position of  the Canadian government, made it possible to start cooperation on humanitarian issues  even before  the collapse of  the  USSR.  The  1990s were marked by the active formation of a number of legal agreements on cooperation between Russia and Canada, as well as other Arctic states. In 1996, the Arctic Council was founded, an organization designed to ensure the sustainable development of the region. The progressive improvement of the relations between the two largest Nordic countries began to stagnate after 2006, with the coming to power of the Conservative Party led by S.  Harper. The purpose of this article is to analyze the intergovernmental process between the Russian Federation and Canada aimed  at  the  development of  the  Arctic region.  The  novelty of  this  work lies  in the fact that, despite the presence in the domestic historiography of the studies on the topic, the article is the first attempt of a generalized scientific research of the Canadian-Russian cooperation in the development of the Arctic.