Elizabeth Buchanan
Modern War Institute
Canberra, ACT, Australia
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Past articles by Elizabeth:
The Punishment Paradox: Understanding the Unintended Consequences of Suspending Arctic Cooperation with Russia
The age of Arctic exceptionalism is gone: the high north region is no longer a protected sphere of Russia-West engagement and dialogue. The decision in March by Arctic Council states […] → Read More
Naughty or Nice: 2021 Arctic Edition
In the North Pole, Santa is busy making a list and checking it twice. Which Arctic states have been naughty and who has been nice? We look at the 2021 scorecard for the Arctic Five (states littoral to the Arctic Ocean)—what’s on their wish list and what should these states expect come Christmas morning? Russia […] → Read More
Russia and the High North: Interview with Nikolay Korchunov, Russian Ambassador at Large for Arctic Cooperation
Editor’s note: Dr. Elizabeth Buchanan, codirector of Project 6633, recently had the opportunity to ask a series of questions to Nikolay Korchunov, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ ambassador at large for Arctic cooperation and the senior Arctic official of the Russian Federation to the Arctic Council. Korchunov’s complete and unedited responses to these questions […] → Read More
Adapting to the Cold, Hard Facts of Polar Security: Advice for the Biden Administration
On his third day in office in 2009, President Barack Obama joked about sending then Vice President Joe Biden to Antarctica, on “an important and special mission” that could “take up to four years.” Yet, as President Joe Biden is sworn into office this week as the forty-sixth president of the United States, Antarctica is […] → Read More
There's a Digital Infrastructure Race Taking Shape in the Arctic, and Both Russia and China are Players
In our global information age, connectivity plays a central role. The geopolitics of connectivity is increasingly garnering attention, presenting various challenges and opportunities. Unfolding in real-time is a new great game of sorts: the digitalization of the Arctic. Stakeholders range from public to private enterprises and include autocratic and democratic governments. The “prize” is control… → Read More
Project 6633 Interview Series: Key Challenges in the Arctic and Antarctic Regions
Project 6633 generates new knowledge centered on Arctic and Antarctic security for the profession of arms. To do so, pools of expertise need to be drawn together. Our team reached out to various academic, military, political, and NGO leaders to curate a collection of short responses to the question: What are the key challenges posed […] → Read More
Strategy and Competition at the Ends of the Earth
The Arctic and Antarctica are well-known Cold War theaters. While these frozen frontiers hosted strategic competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, they also produced legacies of cooperation that have extended through the twentieth and into the twenty-first centuries. Indeed, the polar regions continue to host cooperative relations between Washington and Moscow, despite […] → Read More
Introducing "Project 6633"—a Program on Arctic and Antarctic Security
66º33′ are the northern and southern latitudinal lines of the Arctic Circle (66º33′ N) and Antarctic Circle (66º33′ S), respectively. Few cross these lines for any reason, though today more are doing so under the pretext of defense and security. Project 6633 is the first global initiative aimed specifically at advancing defense community discussions on security […] → Read More
Russia and China in the Arctic: A Cautious Partnership, Not an Alliance
As observers speak of a new Cold War between the United States and China, policymakers seem to misunderstand Sino-Russian relations in the Arctic as an alliance. This stems in part from the lack of a quantified framework to understand the ongoing shifts in the international system: the return of nationalism, fractures in the rules-based liberal order, and the […] → Read More
The Pandemic is Strengthening China-Russia Ties? Not Exactly
Many narratives on geopolitics in the age of COVID-19 include an assumption that the pandemic is pushing Beijing and Moscow closer together as allies. The two are old hands at orchestrated disinformation and misinformation campaigns, the argument goes, and the pandemic has provided a vehicle for them. Both reject US hegemony and believe the international order should reflect a … → Read More
COVID-19 is a Millennial Call to Arms
The 2020s have kicked off with a plethora of strategic challenges. Alliances are under strain and the promise of liberal institutionalism is fracturing. Brexit has finally occurred and now Serbia is taking issue with the broken promises of the EU. The United States seems, to many international observers, to be exiting stage-left from global leadership, … → Read More
Surprisingly Insightful Lessons on Grand Strategy from a 1990s Monster Horror Film. No, Really.
Sheriff Hank Keough: I never heard of a crocodile crossing an ocean. Hector Cyr: Well, they conceal information like that in books. — Lake Placid (1999) Academics, military practitioners, and pundits alike can spend a lifetime grappling with grand strategy. We seek to understand how it works, where it doesn’t, and the ins and outs … → Read More
Rumor and Ice: Assessing Russian Intentions in the Arctic
Move over Greenland, Donald President Trump should know that the real Arctic prize is Svalbard (formerly known as Spitsbergen). At least that’s what renewed murmurs of Russia seeking to invade the Svalbard archipelago highlight. And these rumors die hard. A Russian-annexed Svalbard is a peripheral fear, which is anchored by historical precedent. The Nazis occupied … → Read More