New Arctic Conference

Cеверно-западный announced that a conference on the prospects for the Arctic in the 21st Century will take place on July 15th at Naryan-Mar.  Topics will include the legal issues of ownership and sovereignty.  According to some reports there would also be discussion of ‘геополитических аспектов освоения Арктики в XXI веке’... Read More...

Canada and the US unite against Russia

Земское обозрение carried some comment on an article in The Financial Times which quotes Canadian sources commenting on greater cooperation between Canada and the US in the Arctic.  The quote reflects a Canadian source which describes Putin’s and Medvedev’s aggressive stance toward the Arctic.  I cannot find the original FT article. ИноСМИ.Ru also carried... Read More...

The Arctic and Modernization

Независимая carries an article that calls for post-imperial solutions to Russia’s problems, ones that combine information technology, openness and adherence to global standards - ‘Территории уже ничего не значат без технологий и инвестиций – а они требуют политических перемен: открытости... Read More...

Military Activity in the Arctic and North Sea

ИноСМИ.Ru carries an article published on the World Socialist Web site about recent Western military activity related to the Arctic.  It refers to the Joint Warrior exercise in the North Sea among the quite lengthy list.  I refer to this particular example to draw attention to the geographical links between the Northern Sea Route and Britain’s home territorial waters, to illustate... Read More...

Difficult Ice-Conditions

Further to this point, the announcement that The Shell International Trading and Shipping Company has renewed its commerical relationships with Sovkomflot (Совкомфлот) contains the small detail that moving liquified natural gas will be a problem in shipping lanes with increased ice-flows and will require further technological development - ‘ дальнейшее совершенствование технологий... Read More...

Is Global Warming a problem for Russia?

The news of the weather, новости погоды, offered a rare example of a scientific point that doesn’t contain any geopolitical component.  There are some fascinating snippets regarding temperatures in the Arctic during June 2009, around the height of the northern hemisphere summer.  It appears things are warmer this year than the average.  Most experts suggest that global... Read More...

Arctic decided by strength or law?

A report in иноСМИЮ.ru predicted that, at the end of the day, as the cliche goes, the Arctic question will be solved not by law, but by strength or force – ‘и юристы предчувствуют, что данный вопрос решит не международное право, а сила’.  It also suggests that it is Russia’s intention to, ‘доминирование... Read More...

The Arctic’s a Priority for Russia

As if we did not already know the point is underlined in commentary from Росблат визпес.  In particular, as the article also adds, the priority is investment in personnel and technology.  In this article, reference is made to 30 million roubles worth of satellite technology to assist the control of the northern sea way.  For effective control of the shortest way from East... Read More...

Institutional arrangements

Северная недела presented some information on the institutional arrangements in Archangel and the personalities who have been involved in the Archangel meeting that took place this week.  The new academy will be called ‘Макарова’.  This will be run by the Federal Transport and Sea and River Agencies.  Others agencies and individuals involved in the recent... Read More...

The Arctic is our territory ‘Арктика – это наша территория’

Late on the 24th of June независимия presented a roundtable discussion, split into two parts, with contributions from a number of scientific experts on the polar regions from the Russian Academy of Sciences.  Under the title, ‘Who will manage the Geopolitical North Pole?’, the discussion was premissed on the idea that the sub-polar world is now the multi-polar world. ... Read More...