The governance of anti-corruption on the Polar Silk Road

As China and Russia discover common ground in exploring the Arctic, the changing spatial dynamics create the possibility for new styles of governance in the area of combating corruption. This paper will ask whether the configuration of collaborative projects between Russian and Chinese partners will open up avenues for a shared governance of anti-corruption or whether, perhaps alternatively, there is the possibility of a non-state and post-sovereign governance model emerging. As there is little empirical evidence yet, this paper will focus on the case of "Arktik LNG-2" as the most substantial Russian-Chinese project in the Arctic to date. It argues that the set-up of this project expresses neither a shared governance nor a post-sovereign governance approach to anti-corruption. On the state-to-state level, there is no sign of China engaging with Russia. On the non-state level, there are no stakeholders that would articulate demands for anti-corruption. Instead, it is through corporate compliance policies that anti-corruption rules become applicable. But these rules are not "private" in the conventional sense. They represent a sub-state policy in the case of Russia and Party rule in the case of the Chinese counterparts.