Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Borderlands, identity, narrative -- Russianness, northernness -- Research questions and methodology -- The rest of the book -- The Kola Peninsula : politics, society, international networks -- Populating the Russian north-west -- Murmansk Oblast : population, economy, environment -- Civil-military relations -- Big oil playground? -- International networks -- Russian perceptions of the international collaboration -- Region building, identity politics -- How to be a northerner : distinguishing North from South -- Extract 1: "When I told them how I lived, they went all misty-eyed" -- Extract 2: "If you'd asked me last year, I would have said Murmansk was the best place in the world" -- Extract 3: "The North is like a bottomless pit dragging you down" -- Negotiating stereotypes about north and south -- The vocabulary available--identity as narrative -- Changing borders? -- How to be a Russian : distinguishing East from West -- Extract 1: "Their eyes are always wide open" -- Extract 2: "As nations, they're on the decline" -- Extract 3: "Everything over there predisposes them to equanimity" -- Exploring stereotypes about Scandinavians -- The words to say it--identity as narrative -- New borderlands? -- Living in the northern environment -- Extract 1: "Nothing wrong with the environment here, despite the slight lack of oxygen" -- Extract 2: "Russians in general are a lucky bunch of people. Foosht! Foosht!" -- Extract 3: "I loathe Russia as a state!" -- General views on the state of the environment -- "The Russia tale"--laments evoked by the environment -- Scandinavia and the environment -- Narrative, identity, and international relations -- The key words -- Key narratives, northern identities -- Narrative juggling -- Narrative analysis, international relations -- Borderland Russians, Nordic neighbours.