Publication Date:
2022-05-26
Description:
This report is a summary of an international workshop on the Soviet
Maritime Arctic held May 10-13, 1987 by the Marine Policy Center of the Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution. Twenty-eight scholars from Canada, Great
Britain, Norway and the United States participated. The workshop provided a
forum for Western scholars to examine and discuss Soviet domestic and
international policies regarding the Arctic Ocean. Interdisciplinary workshop
sessions addressed the following concerns: strategic, geographic, historical,
legal, scientific, technological, transportation, geopolitical and resource
development. This report includes an overview of the workshop, 15 abstracts
of contributed papers (8 with figures or tables), and an edited transcript of
the concluding discussion session. Appendices include the final program, a
list of participants and a list of discussion questions contributed by the
participants prior to the workshop. Several key findings of the workshop
include: more than 500 years of Russian involvement in the Arctic Ocean; USSR
operation of the world's largest polar fleet primarily for transportation and
resource development; Russian nationalism as a possible driving force in
Soviet activity in the Arctic; Soviet concerns for the Arctic representing an
amalgamation of interests (economic, security, environmental, resource,
others), none of which alone is predominant; probable Soviet participation in
international Arctic regimes based on past actions; and, Soviet legislative
enactments which indicate that the balance of interests embodied in the Law of
the Sea Convention are largely acceptable to the Soviet Union and that extreme
doctrinal views on the legal status of polar seas do not enjoy support in law
or State practice.
Description:
Funding was provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Keywords:
Congresses and conventions
;
Russia, Northern
;
Arctic regions
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Technical Report
Format:
application/pdf
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