Atomflot: Ruska geostrategija građena na lomljenom ledu
Atomflot: Russia’ geostrategy, built on broken ice

Summary/Abstract: The Arctic is a region largely under a several-meter thick layer of ice for most of the year. However, the climate of the region is rapidly changing due to the fastest increasing average temperatures in the world. The melting of polar ice is making it easier to satisfy geopolitical interests in energy-generating products from deep under the sea, as well as opening up possibilities to alternative, shorter commercial sea routes that are much more economical those in use now. Generally, the substance of geostrategy lies in the control of space; therefore, control of the region will belong to the first to exploit the economic treasures it offers. But physical control of a mostly frozen sea is a challenge. For that purpose, Russian company Atomflot has developed and maintains vessels capable of icebreaking, comprising the only existing civilian nuclear flotilla in the world. And since the technical specifications of these vessels enable them to access what is literally the top of the world, they make Russia the country most active in the Arctic Circle. Yet, in professional and scientific discourse, Atomflot is a phenomenon that remains mostly ignored. Thus, the goal of this text is to demonstrate that Russia’s role in the Arctic, that is, the role of Atomflot, represents a geopolitical success.

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