Northern and Arctic regions: what role they play in Russian development under new geo-economic conditions

The paper shows the growing contradictory tendencies which govern the world line-up and force cohesion in the XXI century. We present our assessment of the environmental, resource and transportation potential in Northern and Arctic regions; and we prove that Russian Northern and Arctic regions are of special interest to the country in ensuring the national economic, geo-politic, defensive and other interests. The energy resources and transportation potential in Northern and Arctic regions, as we believe, could be one of the tools advisable to modernize the national economy and ensure - through realizing an effective governmental socio-economic policy - the sustainable spatial development in Northern and Arctic regions