Abstract:

The continuation of interstate cooperative ties between conflicting parties in a post-crisis era can be explained definitively by the concept of “complex interdependence”. As the Ukraine crisis drags on and accelerates further, cooperation between Russia and Western countries has not ended altogether. In the Arctic at least, cooperation in such functional domains as search and rescue, fishing, and navigation as well as in the Arctic Council is barely or only slightly affected. This portrays interstate cooperation in the Arctic as a dynamic combination of rupture and continuation. The ongoing political dynamics in the Arctic reflect how a pre-existing situation of complex interdependence can prevent the entire breakdown of interstate relations. It can also avert escalation of a crisis through the approaches of a linkage strategy, agenda setting, and international regimes. At the same time, pre-existing complex interdependence can keep open channels of communication between the conflicting parties and further facilitate the process of re-building confidence.

Key words: complex interdependence, Arctic cooperation, Ukraine crisis