Mainstream vs media and foreign policy pundits proclaim Russia’ growing threat to the Arctic, yet the actual military balance in the region is lopsided in favor of the US and NATO. A narrative of looming conflict risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Professor Robert English is deputy director of the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California. He previously taught at the John’s Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and prior to that worked as a policy analyst in the US Department of Defense and Committee for National Security.