New approaches in Soviet arctic policies and consequences for the West

Completed

Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(Oil and Gas, Other oil and gas)
Not Energy Related

Basic and strategic applied research

SOCIAL SCIENCES (Politics and International Studies)
AREA STUDIES (Asian Studies)

Not Cross-cutting
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Policy and regulation)

Professor C Archer
Faculty of Humanities, Law and Social Science
Manchester Metropolitan University

Standard

ESRC

01 July 1988

31 July 1990

25 months

£32,540

No relevance to Underpinning Sectors

North West

ESRC Oil

Professor C Archer, Faculty of Humanities, Law and Social Science, Manchester Metropolitan University

Objectives not supplied

The Murmansk initiative has its background in the security, economic and environmental situation of the Arctic area and in the fresh approach taken by Mr Gorbachev towards co-operation with the West. Since the Soviet leaders Murmansk speech in October 1987, there have been attempts to develop its major themes. However, Western responses to Soviet overtures have proved patchy. In the security field, Soviet diplomatic activity was aimed at easing the negative consequences of the adversarial relationship with the West in the Northern Seas. In developing this side of the Initiative, the Soviets placed emphasis on the need for arms control at sea and on a Nordic nuclear-weapons free zone, both these ideas have attracted little governmental support in the West. Previously, activity in the Soviet North was dominated by security considerations, but Gorbachev has not made progress in cooperation proposals. Indeed, the cool Western response to the latter has not detracted from attempts at cooperation in other functional areas. Trans-polar cooperation has grown substantially in the scientific and environmental areas since 1987. In Arctic science, there has been an expansion of bilateral activity between the Polar states and in 1990 an International Arctic Science Committee was established, drawing on the scientific organisations of Arctic and non-Arctic states for membership. The study traces the successful attempt of some Western governments to prevent this organisation from being too exclusive in its membership, as originally desired by the Soviets, Environmental cooperation has also expanded, particularly after the Finnish government launched its own initiative for a trans-Arctic diplomatic forum on this subject. The study analyses the extent and effect of this cooperation and also examines some of its shortcomings. Joint economic exploitation of the Norther Regions has been favoured by the trend towards international economic liberalism as well as by economic reform inthe Soviet Union and by improved East-West relations. However, uncertainty in the Soviet Union and the prevailing economic system there has so far retarded Western participants in the development of Soviet Arctic resources. Offshore petroleum and gas exploration has been partly discouraged by the lack of demarcation in the Barents Sea area. Wider, security factors will affect the future progress of the security aspects of the Murmansk Initiative while the success of cooperation on the non-security side will be determined by a wide range of international political and economic factors, as well as by internal events in the Soviet Union.

26/10/11