The Arctic region, which has occupied a special position in the discourse of international political science for more than ten years, has gradually acquired various and often diametrically opposed images on the pages of both English- and Russian language studies. For a long time, the central intergovernmental forum, the Arctic Council, designed de jure to promote international cooperation and maintain peace in the region, served as a kind of “barometer” of the state of “exceptionalism” of transnational relations in the region. There is no generally accepted consensus regarding the role and state of the Arctic Council after 2022 either among researchers of international relations or among official representatives of the member states and observers of the Council. In the context of the unprecedented crisis that has been occurring in the Arctic region since the Cold War, it is especially important to study the role of the Arctic Council as a key format for international cooperation in the Arctic throughout all stages of its functioning, as well as an overview of other formats of regional cooperation that have emerged since the events of 2022, which made it possible to identify the main trends in the development of a complex structure of regional interaction at the current stage of its functioning.

This article is an output of a research project implemented as part of the Basic Research Program at the HSE University.

This article was submitted 17.11.2024, approved for publication 15.07.2025

© I. Strelnikova, D. Agafonov, 2026
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