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existing international law and good will. We remain committed to the framework
of the Law of the Sea, and to the peaceful resolution of disputes generally”
(2013: 2).
Second, the recent military build-ups have been to date neither very strong in force projection nor
specifically directed towards the Arctic. They are rather a logical response to a quickly melting
environment, which for example requires a strengthening of the Arctic countries’ northern border
security infrastructure in order to counter potential threats through for example smuggling or human
trafficking (Wezeman 2012b; Lind 2014; Wezeman 2014; Bergh 2014). As Siemon Wezeman from
SIPRI states:
“There are of course in Russia a number of clear points into the direction of a
stronger military presence in the Arctic, [...] most likely a number of extra patrol
vessels, a number of extra bases along the northern axis of Russia, but nothing in
the direction of