{"id":172,"date":"2015-03-25T16:09:20","date_gmt":"2015-03-25T16:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arcticincontext.com\/?p=172"},"modified":"2021-07-11T23:35:47","modified_gmt":"2021-07-11T23:35:47","slug":"russias-ambitions-in-the-arctic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/aic\/2015\/03\/25\/russias-ambitions-in-the-arctic\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia\u2019s Ambitions in the Arctic"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sophie des Beauvais<\/strong><\/p>\n

On August 2, 2007, the Russian expedition Arktika 2007<\/em> planted a Russian flag on the North Pole seabed, descending more than two miles under the ice cap in a pair of submersible vessels. Notably, one third of Russia lies within the Arctic Circle, a\u00a0<\/a>region full of natural energy that plays a major role in the country\u2019s economy. With the melting of the Arctic ice cap opening a new array of challenges and opportunities, and the congruent growing interest of non-Arctic states in the region, Russia has been substantially enhancing its Arctic policy.<\/p>\n

In September 2008, the Russian government adopted \u201cThe fundamentals of state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic in the period up to 2020 and beyond.\u201d Accordingly, Russia\u2019s four national interests in the Arctic are the use of the Arctic zone within its borders as a strategic resource base; the maintenance of the greater Arctic region as a zone of peace and cooperation; the preservation of unique ecological systems in the Arctic; and the use of the Northern Sea Route as a strategically located transport route in the Arctic.<\/p>\n

The plan emphasizes the region as a source of revenue, mainly from maritime transport, oil, and gas. So far, Arctic resources account for 10-15 percent of the country\u2019s GDP and 20-25 percent of national exports. The melting of the Arctic ice cap also creates new opportunities for shipping and trade routes since it decreases natural obstacles. The Northern Sea Route could reduce the route between Rotterdam, Netherlands and Yokohama, Japan by more than 7,000 km, compared to the traditional Suez Canal route. The prospect of an ice-free sea also reopens the discussions on sovereignty over new routes.<\/p>\n

The center of the Arctic Ocean is classified as international waters and thus beyond any country’s control. However, Arctic coastal nations \u2013 Canada, Denmark, Norway, and the U.S. along with Russia \u2013 \u00a0have registered claims which could technically extend their purview up to the North Pole.<\/p>\n

\"Russia\u2019s<\/p>\n

Indeed, the UN Convention<\/u><\/a> on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) regulates the right of coastal nations\u2019 jurisdiction over the resources of a given area. Coastal nations are granted the rights to exclusive economic zones (EEZ) that range 200 nautical miles from the coastlines, but if a nation can provide scientific proof that a \u00a0continental shelf extends beyond the EEZ then additional rights are granted. \u00a0Article 77 of UNCLOS<\/u> <\/a>states, \u201cThe coastal state exercises over the continental shelf sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring it and exploiting its natural resources.\u201d However, if overlapping claims exist then the nations involved are responsible for finding a solution, similar to how Norway and Russia resolved a 40-year old maritime dispute<\/a>\u00a0in 2010.<\/p>\n

On December 15, 2014, Denmark submitted a claim of around 347,500 square miles of the continental shelf extending into the Arctic Ocean by filing a submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. This claim includes the North Pole.<\/p>\n

Russian Natural Resources Minister Sergey Donskoy responded the next day: \u201cWe are drafting a document together with the Defense and Foreign Ministries and the Russian Academy of Sciences for submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.\u201d<\/p>\n

This claim will likely include the North Pole, as Russia claims to have gathered scientific evidence that the Lomonosov Ridge, which goes straight across the Pole, is a continuation of the Russian continental shelf. This claim, first made on December 20, 2000, was rejected at the time because of lack of scientific proof.<\/p>\n

\"Russia\u2019s<\/p>\n

Although Russia\u2019s Arctic Policy is multi-dimensional and cannot be reduced to only its strategic dimension, the country has been developing its military plan in the region to protect its strategic and commercial interests. As a result, Russia is reportedly building a unified network of military facilities in its Arctic territory to protect the country\u2019s borders and interests in the region. Its new strategic command in the Arctic is headquartered in the Northern Fleet and became operational on December 1, 2014.<\/p>\n

Later that month, Russia\u2019s President Vladimir Putin said that the country is not planning to\u00a0militarize the Arctic, but\u00a0is taking the necessary measures to\u00a0ensure its defense capabilities in\u00a0the region. However, a few weeks later, spokesperson for the Russian Northern Fleet, Vadim Serga indicated<\/a> that the fleet\u2019s \u201cmarines will undergo special training in\u00a02015 for\u00a0military activities in\u00a0the Arctic.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a recent Stratfor<\/u><\/a> report, \u201cof the eight countries<\/u> <\/a>of the Arctic Council, five are members of NATO, fueling Russia’s suspicion that opposing forces are massing against it. Although friction with Kiev and the West has overshadowed Russia’s military build-up in the Arctic, Moscow’s long-term ambitions for the region are making other Arctic countries nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although threat of an armed conflict between Arctic powers is very low, the Arctic itself is becoming strategically important, and the prospect of any party militarizing the region can seem alarming. However, the U.S. Special Representative for the Arctic, Admiral Robert Papp, argues the military can serve other purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to have increased maritime traffic, you should have search-and-rescue facilities, you should have modern airports and other things\u2014things I\u2019d like to have built in Alaska as maritime traffic increases,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Sophie des Beauvais\u00a0is an editorial assistant at\u00a0<\/em>World Policy Journal.<\/p>\n

[Photo courtesy of NOAA Photo Library<\/a>, Arctic Controversy<\/a>, The Economist<\/a>]<\/p>\n

This article first appeared on the World Policy Institute website.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sophie des Beauvais On August 2, 2007, the Russian expedition Arktika 2007 planted a Russian flag on the North Pole seabed, descending more than two miles under the ice cap in a pair of submersible vessels. Notably, one third of Russia lies within the Arctic Circle, a\u00a0region full of natural energy that plays a<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6,5,7,14],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-economic-development","tag-geopolitics","tag-russia","tag-security-and-defense"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/aic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/aic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/aic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/aic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/aic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/aic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1801,"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/aic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions\/1801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/aic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/aic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/aic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/aic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}