Murmansk Initiative
The Murmansk Initiatives (/mərmænsk ɪˈnɪʃətɪvz/; Template:Lang-ru, Russian pronunciation: [/Мурманские/ ɪnʲɪt͡sᵻɐtʲˈivᵻ]) were a series of wide-range foreign policy proposals concerning the Arctic region made in a speech by the Secretary-General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union - Mikhail Gorbachev - on October 1, 1987 in Murmansk, Soviet Union, considered to be a trademark of his foreign policy.[1] The initiatives tied together economic, environmental, and security issues in the Arctic.[2] The aim of the initiatives was to transform the Arctic Circle from being a military theater to an international zone of peace among the Arctic powers. They were launched as an invitation for disarmament of nuclear weapons and establishment of an East-West dialogue around the Arctic.[3] The Murmansk speech's goals paralleled Gorbachev's ambitions in previous speeches, like the one in Vladivostok (July, 1986) dealing with Asia-Pacific relations and another speech in Belgrade (March, 1988) dealing with problems pertaining to security in the Mediterranean region. The Murmansk Initiatives were considered a major turning point in the Arctic policy of the Soviet Union (USSR) as they were considered to be the representation of the application of the Gorbachev's new political thinking in Northern Europe.[2]
History
Before the end of the 1930's, the Arctic had not been considered a zone of particular strategic interest due to its climate and difficulty of access. However, as developments of sea and air technology facilitated access, the Arctic North would open up to become another front in the Second World War. The Soviet invasion of Finland and German invasion of Norway and Denmark marked an unprecedented militarization of the zone, and following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Murmansk provided Allied supply ships from the United Kingdom, an important avenue through which the would be able to supply the Soviets.
Following the end of the Second World War, the improvements in air-power and rising tensions between the United States of America and the Soviet Union further intensified militarization of the Arctic. What had traditionally been seen as a barrier between the two superpowers had become the shortest route between them, and fears of Soviet aerial incursions into North America fostered the creation of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the Distant Early Warning Line system in the late 1950's. Later tensions over intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine launched ballistic missiles would lead to the Arctic becoming the principal area of operations for NATO submarines.[4]
For the Soviets, the strategic importance of the Arctic could not be overstated. Murmansk and the Kola Bay would become the home for the bulk of the Soviet submarine fleet, as NATO presence in the Dardanelles limited the capability of their fleet in the Black Sea.[4] The collection of Soviet military installations along the Kola Peninsula would be considered by Western analysts as being the most heavily concentrated system of air, naval, and missile bases in the world. These sites were critical in protecting key military and industrial sites in Northern Russia, including space launch and nuclear testing zones, sites to extract and process oil, natural gas and uranium, and a vast network of early-warning radars to detect any Western incursions into Soviet airspace. This response to the United States and NATO’s nuclear arms races would lead to the Kola Peninsula and surrounding waters to become the most nuclear region in the world, remaining this way until the disarmament initiatives were brought about by the Murmansk speech.[4]
The idea of a nuclear-free Arctic, the first point of Gorbachev’s speech, was not a new one. A formal Soviet proposal had been made in 1958 by then Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin, and similar ideas had become popular in the following decades, especially in specific governments and organizations in Nordic countries. Gorbachev had seen these countries as potentially being more responsive to his “new political thinking” and towards the shift toward East-West dialogue, coming off the heels of the Reykjavik Summit of 1986, which Gorbachev would explicitly refer to as a watershed for more peaceful Cold War politics in his speech.[5][6]
Overview
On October 1, 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev gave a speech to the city of Murmansk that marked the beginning of a change in foreign policy that would be called the ‘Murmansk Initiatives’.[4] In the speech, Gorbachev discussed hopes for nuclear disarmament and more diplomacy with regards to the Arctic. He stated that the Soviet Union's military-industrial complex was a barrier to these peaceful discussions and spoke of the importance of the Arctic as a meeting place of three continents and of ongoing security concerns. His speech invited all those in the Arctic region to engage in discussions about establishing a nuclear-free zone, restricting naval activity, and encouraged peaceful cooperation on topics like resource extraction, scientific exploration, issues of indigenous peoples, environmental protection, and northern shipping routes.[6]
Proposed Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in the Arctic
At the time of Murmansk speech, the world already had nuclear weapons-free zones in South America and Antarctica.[3] Neither areas, however, were of as much strategic importance as the Arctic. Gorbachev offered to act as a ‘guarantor’ for the zone; he would agree to not use or threaten the use of nuclear weapons against other countries in the zone.[1] The negotiation for a nuclear-free zone was mainly consolidated with the Nordic countries.[3] Sweden and Norway both expressed interest in such a proposal previously and the Soviets were hoping that dismantling long- and short-range missiles would appease their objections.[1] However, the idea was negatively received in the West. Some suggested that the the denuclearization proposal was an attempt for the USSR to achieve a strategic advantage, something that Moscow fervently refuted. As a result of the mounting pressure from the United States, no Nordic countries took up negotiations with Moscow on this issue.[3]
Naval Restrictions in Arctic Seas
It is possible that the initiatives were a response to the US Navy’s Forward Maritime Strategy and the increased submarine presence in the Arctic.[1] One aim of this proposal was to limit the size and frequency of naval exercises in the European Arctic.[3] The other aim was to totally ban naval activity in mutually agreed zones, but Gorbachev did not specify the exact location of the zones.[1] There had been no large scale Soviet exercises since 1985 due to budget constraints, so the proposal would have primarily impacted NATO allies. Thus, the proposal was passed off by the Western countries, believing these naval restrictions would have given the Soviets a unilateral advantage.[3]
Resource Development
Gorbachev saw cooperation on resource development important to the Soviet Union's economic revival.[3] This was part of a larger project to gain Western technology and capital. Gorbachev suggested setting up joint energy projects in the Barents Sea with Canada, Norway and others.[1] The Norwegians rejected the offshore drilling initiative because of territorial disputes.
Gorbachev was also interested in cooperating with Western companies in terms of mineral extraction in the Kola Peninsula. This was a major shift in Soviet foreign policy, however, it did not lead to joint ventures immediately.[3]
Scientific Exploration
Prior to the late 1980's, there was little interaction between the Soviet and Western spheres regarding scientific exploration of the Arctic. Scientists from the Soviet Union were not included in scientific gatherings in Western territory, and any collaboration was plagued with distrust.
Indigenous Peoples
The relationship between Soviet Indigenous peoples and Western indigenous peoples was a delicate issue at this time. There were 26 Indigenous groups with almost 200,000 people living in the Soviet Union, and the industrialization and militarization of the Arctic had a negative impact on their livelihood due to increased pollution. Prior to the 1980’s, the lack of cooperation between the Soviet and Western spheres meant that Indigenous groups in the Soviet Union had not been given the opportunity to shed light on this issue in an international context.
Environmental Protection
Prior to the Murmansk Initiatives, the Soviet Union had a reputation for either ignoring environmental degradation or pursuing isolationist policies. They were not in the practice of pursuing or encouraging international environmental cooperation and thus Gorbachev’s proposal to increase international environmental cooperation departed from previous policy decisions.
Outcome and Legacy
Gorbachev’s speech in 1987 sparked the beginning of various reforms intended to achieve the goal of increased cooperation and stability in the Arctic. Although there were no significant reductions in the military sector, other sectors saw reduced tensions and even cooperation in certain ventures.
Demilitarization
Limited demilitarization occurred in the Arctic in the aftermath of the Murmansk Initiatives. Many of the demilitarization offers made by the USSR were considered negligible by Western observers.[1]
International Relations
Relations between the states involved in the Arctic normalized following the Murmansk Initiatives. Western states like Norway and Finland were cautiously optimistic about the proposals made by Gorbachev.[1] The non-security proposals put forward by Gorbachev were received relatively enthusiastically and cooperation over development of the Arctic increased, particularly in regards to economic development. Despite this enthusiasm, the security proposals put forward by the USSR were looked upon with significant suspicion and so relations still remained cool.[3]
Economic Outcomes
The Northern Sea shipping route was opened by Russia in 1991 to foreign vessels in part as a result of the Murmansk Initiatives. Extraction of natural resources like oil and natural gases increased following the Murmansk Initiatives due to greater cooperation between the various Arctic states.[3]
Indigenous Peoples
Gorbachev’s remarks on the need for closer “cultural ties” led to closer interaction between various Northern indigenous groups.[6] Gorbachev’s decision to allow Indigenous representatives to attend the Inuit Circumpolar Conference in 1988, thus signaled a policy change from the Soviet Union, which was received warmly by the West.
Research Missions
The Murmansk Initiatives encouraged further research missions in the Northern Sea and Arctic regions. Gorbachev’s call to action for international cooperation in the Arctic was a catalyst in the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), a non-profit organization composed of international science groups participating in Arctic science research. In 1988, over 500 delegates from the USSR, Canada, United States, and the five Nordic states gathered in Leningrad for the Conference of Arctic States on Coordination of Scientific Research in the Arctic. This marked the first time the two spheres had merged to collaborate on such an issue. These initiatives demonstrated the success of Gorbachev’s call to desecuritize the Arctic, and helped to facilitate emerging political cooperation in other areas at the time.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Purver, Ronald G. (1989), "Arctic Security: The Murmansk Initiative and its Impact", Soviet Foreign Policy, Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 182–203, doi:10.1007/978-1-349-11341-5_11, ISBN 9781349113439
- ^ a b JANES, ROBERT W. (1990). "The Soviet Union and Northern Europe: New Thinking and Old Security Constraints". The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 512 (1): 163–172. doi:10.1177/0002716290512001015. ISSN 0002-7162.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Åtland, Kristian (2008). "Mikhail Gorbachev, the Murmansk Initiative, and the Desecuritization of Interstate Relations in the Arctic". Cooperation and Conflict. 43 (3): 289–311. doi:10.1177/0010836708092838. ISSN 0010-8367.
- ^ a b c d Barr, William (2010-01-29). "Encyclopedia of the Arctic, edited by Mark Nuttall". ARCTIC. 58 (4). doi:10.14430/arctic458. ISSN 1923-1245.
- ^ Archer, Clive (1988). "Russia's Arctic Dimension". The World Today. 44, no.3.
- ^ a b c Gorbachev, M. (1987). "The Speech in Murmansk at the ceremonial meeting on the occasion of the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal to the city of Murmansk" (PDF). Novosti Press Agency.