Abstract
Russian policy in Asia and in the Arctic share significantly overlapping elements. One such element is the precedent set when the UN awarded the Sea of Okhotsk to Moscow in 2013. Moscow’s subsequent conduct in closing that sea to foreign shipping and creating a naval bastion there suggest that it may well do the same should part or all of its very expansive claim to the Arctic zone off its territory be recognized by the UN. Inasmuch as Russia has now militarized the Sea of Okhotsk on the heels of the UN award and added thereby innumerable obstacles to rapprochement with Japan while also militarizing the area still further, the likelihood of an Arctic bastion, closed zone, and subsequent militarization cannot be excluded. Meanwhile, in Asia, Russia will continue to remain at odds with Japan and see much of Asia as composed of hostile and threatening powers that can only be dealt with in a context of militarization.