The RUSI Journal is a leading journal on defence and security. First published in 1857, it brings together scholars, decision-makers and practitioners in a unique forum that combines academic rigour with policy relevance.
The Director of the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies provides a Professional Insight into the importance of the High North to US homeland defence.
In this research article, Mariia Vladymyrova argues that Russian fishing fleets serve as instruments of strategic deterrence and coercive signalling. By leveraging ambiguity and dual-use capabilities, Russia blurs the line between civilian and military operations, complicating NATO’s maritime situational awareness and demanding adaptive countermeasures in an evolving security environment.
In this research article, the authors argue that the UK, leveraging its Arctic proximity, maritime strength and leadership of the Joint Expeditionary Force, should spearhead a tighter regional security architecture, harden the defence of Svalbard and the Bear Island Gap, and combine legal, military and economic tools to constrain Russian revisionism.
The second Trump administration’s aggressive transactional approach has pressured Canada, Denmark/Greenland and Panama. This has prompted each to adapt. The authors show that while the US is gaining short-term concessions, its actions risk long-term fragmentation of alliances, potentially creating openings for the influence of other powers.
In this feature, the authors trace how Russian assertiveness, US ambitions in Greenland, and China’s growing polar presence are fracturing the Arctic into competing zones of influence and stretching the agency of European and smaller Arctic states. The authors then call for a new UK Arctic policy that links the High North to a 'Wider North', deepens cooperation with Nordic allies, and invests in long-term industrial, maritime and technological capabilities to sustain deterrence and resilience.
