The Soviet maritime Arctic : proceedings of a workshop held May 10-13, 1987 by the Marine Policy Center of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Abstract

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.