News & Views on the Russian presence within the Arctic Circle
30 September 2009
K2 capital reported that a Norwegian oil and gas company are going to be key players in the development of new Russian fields in the Arctic. Is it the case, therefore, that Norway are supporting what Medvedev called ‘the new energy order’. This Russian commentator certainly thought so – ‘На нашей стороне может выступить Норвегия,... Read More...
30 September 2009
Независимая and others reported that Russian strategic bombers flew to the Aleutian Islands on 29th September. I didn’t know that the same crew ‘buzzed’ Canadian airspace prior to a visit of Barak Obama to Canada in March. This follows on from similar events recently, where the justification was given, in some quarters, that Russia is compelled to make such... Read More...
30 September 2009
Мурманский вестник reports on the drift data – nine miles a day apparently. Drift data was once described as ‘бесценный” – i.e., priceless. It is possible that the ‘price’of drift data is a function of its ability to assist ice-breakers manage the northern sea route, alongside satellite data. The activities of polar... Read More...
29 September 2009
This is stressed by Vyacheslav Popov, member of the Commission of Defence and Security, in an article in мурманский вестник in anticipation of the opening of the Murmansk Economic Forum on the development of the Arctic in the 21st Century. He argues that ‘что Арктика для России имеет стратегическое значение’... Read More...
29 September 2009
This article reports that atomflot clearly requires state support, something in the order of 1bn rubles, this year alone. The same seems true of the Murmansk Shipping Company, which now incorporates atomflot. The new generation of nuclear ice-breakers are crucial to Russia’s Arctic ambitions. Is it possible that Russia’s Arctic plan is based more on a sense of geopolitics... Read More...
29 September 2009
This article in настоящее время argues that Russia’s broader strategic interests in the Caucuses and Central Asia entail that it will cooperate with NATO, including in the Arctic. The problems of Russia’s soft underbelly and the maintenance of the CIS are, indeed, a greater strategic challenge for Russia than the presently, for the most part, hypothetical problems... Read More...
28 September 2009
Operating from near Murmansk (described here as the center of Russia’s Arctic presence, and also the largest city in the Arctic circle) the Northern Fleet have taken part in Operation Ladoga. According to this, the exercises were a mock amphibious assault on a coast using airborne troops from the Northern Fleet. Is it unusual for military exercises to be reported as news? Read More →
27 September 2009
In this detailed analysis in элементы the argument is that the Arctic ice breathes carbon dioxide out (exhales) and absorbs it (inhales), varying between summer and winter. The article contains this challenging assertion – ‘ Этот довольно нетривиальный вывод в корне меняет традиционное представление... Read More...
26 September 2009
Транспорт.ru reported that the Russian Ministry of Transport is going to establish an administrative agency to run the northern sea route. The article expresses some hope that global warming will accelerate the development of the route but doubts it, so a new generation of ice-breakers will be needed if the goal of operating ‘из варяг (from the Baltic region) в... Read More...
26 September 2009
Is the name of the Germany ship yard recently bought by a former Russian energy minister who sits on the board of Gazprom. The yard will produce ice-breakers and ships for Gazprom’s Arctic fleet. Read More →
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