Political processes and institutions. Рубрика в журнале - Arctic and North
The Svalbard fisheries protection zone: how Russia and Norway manage an Arctic dispute
Scientific article
Svalbard and the maritime zone around this Arctic archipelago are central to Norway-Russia relations. Since 1977, a dispute has concerned Norway's right to exercise jurisdiction over fisheries. What are Russian positions on Norwegian jurisdiction enforcement in the Fisheries Protection Zone (FPZ)? How have perceptions and reactions evolved since the turn of the millennium? Has the deterioration in the bilateral relationship post-2014 sharpened the dispute in the FPZ, and has the risk of conflict increased? We find that 2014 does not appear to be a watershed with respect to relations in the FPZ around Svalbard. After the dramatic arrest of a Russian trawler in 2005, the Russian central authorities switched from protest to relatively conciliatory dialogue - with a marked exception in 2011 related to Russian domestic discord surrounding the 2010 Barents Sea maritime boundary agreement. After 2011, incidents in the FPZ have been handled without further escalation, but the situation is underpinned by various factors that might change. Russia’s policies in the FPZ have been a balancing act: always stressing its official position and insisting that there are limitations to how much Norwegian enforcement can be accepted, while also ensuring that the enforcement regime survives.
Free
The UK’s interests in the Arctic
Scientific article
The article analyzes the priorities of British policy in the Arctic. The UK has a long tradition of studying the Arctic and is one of the first observer countries of the Arctic Council. At the same time, the Arctic strategy of London has undergone several significant changes, which are a natural reaction to the changing situation in the region. An analysis of the British Foreign Ministry report 2018 reveals four primary areas of the UK's interest in the Arctic. First, the country's economy continues to rely heavily on the hydrocarbon and bioresources of the Arctic. Secondly, after the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis and in the conditions of deteriorating relations with Moscow, the British authorities have begun to pay more attention to the security, primarily the military one. Third, an important direction of the UK Arctic policy is to solve the problem of climate change since the country considered one of the world leaders in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, the development of international cooperation in the region based on scientific diplomacy is one of the priorities of British Arctic politics. However, despite the official documents fixing the priorities of the UK’s Arctic strategy, London’s Arctic policy is passive. This fact is a reason for British expert criticism.
Free
The northern sea route: problems of national status legitimization under international law. Part I
Scientific article
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) for the Russian Federation is a strategically important maritime communication with the status of a historically established national transport artery. Despite its applicability to the Arctic, and therefore to the waters of the NSR, the norms and provisions of the modern international maritime law, and, first of all, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS), Russia declares the important role of the national legislation on the regulation of navigation on the NSR. Such a situation is conditioned by the existing historical practice, the tacit consent of most states, as well as the special environmental vulnerability of the Arctic region and the desire to prevent the marine environment pollution due to the navigation. Among the main opponents of this approach is the USA, which traditionally disputes the unified permitting regime for navigation along the NSR as an example of Russia's extremely broad interpretation of the norms and provisions of UNCLOS. The first part of the paper will show how those legal approaches used by Russia to introduce the national level of the NSR regulation, i.e., the concept of internal historical waters and the method of straight baselines, do not contradict UNCLOS, as they go beyond its limits and are based mostly on customary norms of international law (the so-called international custom) rather than treaties. The U.S. disagreement with such an assertion is discredited by the fact that Washington is not a full party to UNCLOS, and thus cannot fully enjoy all the prerogatives it has introduced.
Free
Three lives of Norwegian consulate in Arkhangelsk
Scientific article
The article is devoted to the history of the Norwegian Consulate in Arkhangelsk, which began in 1815 and has continued to the present time. The history of the Consulate is analyzed from the standpoint of identifying the fundamental differences in the activities in each of the three periods (lives) of the Consulate. This, in particular, is the novelty of the research. Moreover, the first two lives (1815–1920 and 1924–1939) are presented as a background to a more detailed study of the prerequisites for creation, priorities in work, successes and some failures of the modern one — the third Consulate reopened in Arkhangelsk in 2010 and has the status of “Honorary”. The authors pay attention to the personal factor — the life path of the first and current honorary consul Andrei Alexandrovich Shalev. His activity was mainly discussed in regional mass media and was not subjected to research analysis. Even the actual material about the events held by the Honorary Consulate was not collected and not systematized, although it has relevance, as it concerns the interests of thousands of residents of the region. The authors believe that in this article they only outlined those directions in the study of consulates that deserve attention.
Free
Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor: Political, Economic and Strategic Potential for Russia
Scientific article
The study is devoted to the large-scale Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor (TATC) project aimed at integrating major Russian port centers — St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok — in order to create a unified transport system combining sea, rail, road and inland waterways. This project aims to connect the key economic centers of Eurasia and form a seamless logistics corridor that can significantly increase the efficiency of international trade and enhance national transport sovereignty. The purpose of the work is to comprehensively assess the historical background of the project, its economic feasibility, as well as its political, diplomatic, and military-strategic significance for Russia and its partners along the Arctic route. The research uses methods of system analysis, in-depth historical review and expert assessment. The results highlight the uniqueness of TATC as a strategic instrument aimed at strengthening Russia’s position in global trade and security. At the same time, significant climatic, infrastructural, hydrographic and international legal challenges have been identified, which should be taken into account when developing the transport route. In particular, navigation in the Arctic is complicated by the presence of ice cover along a significant part of the sea route for most of the year, which requires the development of an icebreaking fleet and innovative navigation technologies. The paper offers recommendations for improving interdepartmental coordination, developing the icebreaking fleet and port infrastructure, overcoming hydrographic difficulties, as well as actively involving the indigenous peoples of the North in the economic development of the region, taking into account environmental and social aspects. The authors emphasize that the successful implementation of the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor will become the foundation for the sustainable development of the Arctic region and will strengthen Russia’s geopolitical influence on the global stage, contributing to the formation of a new transport framework that provides unhindered access to the oceans and improves international trade relations with partners from Asia, Europe and America.
Free
UK Policy in the Arctic: Security as a New Priority
Scientific article
The article outlines the regulatory framework and military-political activities of the United Kingdom in the Arctic region. Particular attention is given to the state of the British Navy, which is analyzed as a key element underpinning the country’s presence in the area. The study traces the evolution of the Arctic’s role in strategic planning documents, reports issued by various parliamentary committees, and official statements by government representatives. The authors assess the frequency of references to Arctic issues within the UK’s institutional structures and observe a shift in focus from environmental and climate concerns to matters of security. In particular, there is growing emphasis on cooperation with NATO allies and countering Russia’s influence in the region. The study concludes that the UK’s actual military presence in the Arctic remains limited, primarily due to insufficient naval funding and the challenges associated with establishing military infrastructure in the region. These limitations are reflected not only in official documents, but also in the rhetoric of government representatives. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom has gradually established a comprehensive system of cooperation agreements with Arctic nations, which serves as the primary mechanism for expanding its regional presence, especially given the technological and logistical challenges. Amid the general trend of increased military presence by Arctic states, the UK's military and political engagement is expected to grow. This will likely occur through deeper cooperation with Norway and other Nordic countries, participation in NATO military exercises, and the gradual establishment of a sustained armed forces presence in Northern Europe.
Free
Scientific article
This article, based on a wide range of sources, some of which are being introduced into scientific discourse for the first time, attempts to provide a comprehensive analysis of the implementation of Mikhail Gorbachev’s “Murmansk initiatives”, studying their assessments and impact on the formation of a new type of the international cooperation in the Arctic in the short-term historical period from October 1987, when they were proclaimed, to 1990. The authors came to the following conclusions: it was no coincidence that Mikhail Gorbachev chose the Arctic as an arena for the implementation of the “new thinking” policy. The “Murmansk initiatives”, having become a regional reflection of the “new thinking” policy, were not perceived unambiguously in the West. The dividing line was drawn both in terms of the content of the initiatives themselves and the favorable perception of them by the Arctic countries. The authors positively assess the “non-military” component of the “Murmansk initiatives”. Despite the traditionally recognized failure of the component related to arms limitation, they nevertheless played a role in the development of the international relations in the region. At the same time, it is clear that during that period, the country’s leadership often acted to the detriment of national interests, making unilateral concessions in the name of reaching an agreement. The concept of neoclassical realism, which forms the basis of this study, explains this line of foreign policy behavior by the USSR as a complex combination of a number of factors: the inability to pursue the state’s previous foreign policy, which was characterized by an arms race in a bipolar world, the internal socio-economic crisis in the country, as well as the personal characteristics of Mikhail Gorbachev himself.
Free
