Research On The Mutual Construction Of Russian Arctic Geo-setting And Discourse After The Cold War

Geopolitics,born at the end of the 19 th century,evolved with the times and had developed into critical geopolitics with textual discourse as its ontology by the early 1990 s.The focus of research shifted from power and geographical space to power and constructed space.Although the avoidance of ‘geographical setting' has gradually marginalised the discipline,critical geopolitics still has a significant social influence today.In the realistic background of the rising of emerging countries,critical geopolitics has become increasingly aware of the disadvantages of ignoring the context of discourse generation and the constraints on discourse effectiveness.It has begun to call for a renewed focus on how material elements such as ‘setting' can be incorporated into the analysis of changing power-political relations.With the return of materiality,the term ‘setting'returns to the critical geopolitics.In addition,in the modern era of highly developed information and communication technologies,the traditional geographical environment consisting of natural and human social spaces has gradually expanded into a geo-setting that includes the interaction of multiple elements such as historical,geographical,political,military,economic and socio-cultural factors and the existence of power games at multiple scales such as global,regional and national.Therefore,it is urgent to establish the connection between discourse and the geo-setting in order to develop critical geopolitical theories and meet the needs of the development of the times.The Arctic region,which is highly sensitive to global climate change,is a typical ‘region with huge changes' with increasing value in economy,resources,transportation and scientific research,and increasing risks in environmental security.It attracts widespread attention from the international community.The Arctic issue has gone beyond the scope of inter-Arctic states and regional issues.It involves more and more diverse actors and a complex geo-setting.Among them,Russia is the most prominent.As the only non-NATO country among the five coastal states in the Arctic Ocean,Russia's geopolitical relations are more complicated than those of other Arctic states.And because of its historical roots,geographic location and resource endowment,Russia's exceptional interest in the Arctic has given birth to a rich Arctic discourse.Although there have been some detours,overall Russia has used its distinctive Arctic discourse to contribute to the development of the Russian Arctic.Therefore,by sorting out the overall Arctic situation and the different stages of the Arctic geo-setting and Arctic discourse in Russia,this study explores the mutually constraining and mutually reinforcing interconfigurations between Russia's Arctic geo-setting and its Arctic discourse in stages.And then summarises the inter-constructive theory of geo-setting and discourse according to the Russian case,in order to further promote the materiality of critical geopolitics and improve the core logic of the discipline theoretically,and to provide a good reference for the construction of the Arctic discourse in China.The results show that:(1)The Arctic geo-setting faced by Russia after the Cold War has become increasingly diverse,with a dynamic development of multiple actors interacting,multiple relationships and multiple structures coexisting,and with clear chronological characteristics.The geo-setting of the Russian Arctic can be roughly summarized into four periods: ‘internal and external troubles at the beginning of the Soviet Union's collapse',‘Putin's return to the Arctic after coming to power',‘the coexistence of Arctic cooperation and military confrontation during Medvedev's tenure',and ‘the prominence of Russian-US conflicts after the Ukraine crisis',which correspond to a high degree to the evolution of Russian Arctic discourse: ‘the gap in Arctic discourse',‘shaping the image of an Arctic power',‘seeking an Arctic identity',‘advocating Arctic peace and welcoming extraterritorial cooperation'.(2)Each stage of Russian Arctic discourse is a result of Russia's interaction with other Arctic geopolitics,providing a rationalised defence and direction for the realisation of predetermined national interests,which in turn influence Russia's cooperation or conflict with other Arctic geopolitics.Russian Arctic discourse was to a certain extent conditioned by the overall situation in the Arctic and the Russian Arctic geopolitical environment at the time.At the same time it has an impact on the subsequent Russian Arctic geo-setting.When the geopolitical environment changes to a certain extent,it enters a new phase,which brings new problems,and in order to solve them,a new Arctic discourse is born,in a circular and interlocking process of continuous evolution.(3)Discourse and geo-setting are both subject to a certain autonomy of change influenced by endogenous factors as well as being mutually constructed by influencing geofactor flows,exchanges of interests and behavioural interactions.The geo-setting can be seen as a complex system consisting of multiple geo-actors themselves and interactions between them.Discourse is both a way in which geo-actors interact and is influenced by the outcome of their interactions.Both influence each other to some extent by acting and reacting on the interaction of geo-actors,and there is a mechanism of coupling over long periods of time,multiple elements and across scales.Based on the above findings,China should construct the Arctic discourse on the basis of fully analyzing the Arctic geopolitical environment it faces,and continuously adjust the Arctic discourse according to the feedback of the geopolitical environment after the impact of the discourse,so as to achieve the purpose of improving China's Arctic discourse and thus improving the Arctic geopolitical environment facing China.