Two distinguished senior researchers with expertise on Russia's northern regions assess the current situation and recent developments in light of social, environmental, and economic change and recommend adjustments, in some cases substantial, in regional development policy. Particular emphasis is placed in this assessment upon the global importance of the Russian North in an environmental and natural resource sense. The authors add their voices to the now‐familiar call for state intervention to ensure sound management of resources and control over the level of foreign investments. In addition, they argue that, alongside a concern for the protection of the rights of the indigenous minorities (Small Peoples) of the North, attention should be devoted to the interests of a resident Russian population of several centuries.