7 Items

herd of walrus on ice floe

Caitlin Bailey, GFOE, The Hidden Ocean 2016: Chukchi Borderlands via NOAA

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

The UN High Seas Treaty in the Arctic Context

| Mar. 21, 2023

Legal scholar Andrey Todorov, Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Arctic Initiative, reflects on the recent agreement reached by United Nations delegates to protect biodiversity in international waters and its implications for the Arctic. 

Russia's newly built nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural

AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

New Russian Law on Northern Sea Route Navigation: Gathering Arctic Storm or Tempest in a Teapot?

| Mar. 09, 2023

Amid increasing tensions between the West and Russia, a new Russian law regulating the navigation of foreign warships in the Northern Sea Route, whose legal regime has been the subject of a long-standing U.S.-Russian dispute, has garnered much international concern and criticism. However, a sober analysis suggests that many observers’ interpretations of the new law and its implications for Arctic security are overblown.

International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean

International Bathymetric Chart of the Arctic Ocean

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Russia’s Arctic Shelf Bid and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, Explained

| Mar. 02, 2023

On February 6, 2023, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) issued recommendations with regard to the Russian submission in respect of the Arctic Ocean. Russia subsequently accepted the Commission’s recommendations, bringing its two-decade bid to extend its continental shelf close to an end. This development sends an important positive signal in times of unprecedented political disturbance in the Arctic region.

midnight sun shines on sea ice

AP Photo/David Goldman, File

Book Chapter - Cambridge University Press

The International Law of the Sea and Arctic Governance: Paving the Way to Integrated Ecosystem-Based Marine Management

| Feb. 21, 2023

Arctic Initiative Research Fellow Andrey Todorov analyzes options to integrate the ecosystem-based approach (EBA) with Arctic Ocean governance.

The Finnish icebreaker MSV Nordica sails past the American island of Little Diomede, Alaska

AP Photo/David Goldman, File

Journal Article - Marine Policy

Shipping Governance in the Bering Strait Region: Protecting the Diomede Islands and Adjacent Waters

| Sep. 28, 2022

This article analyzes potential courses of action that Russia and the United States could pursue, jointly or separately, to protect the Bering Strait Region from the adverse effects of growing shipping.

a polar bear approaches a group of walruses on an ice floe

Andrey Todorov

News - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Arctic Ocean Governance: Cooperation with Russia After the Invasion of Ukraine

| July 07, 2022

The rapid pace of Arctic thaw demands collaboration with Russia, no matter the political implications. In a seminar hosted by the Arctic Initiative on May 11, 2022, Andrey Todorov and Andreas Østhagen tackled the thorny question of how to proceed with Arctic Ocean governance in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and expressed tentative hope for a pragmatic approach to cooperating with Russia on pressing issues such as shipping and fishery management.

US Coast Guard Cutter Healy breaking ice

Charles Hengen/Coast Guard

Journal Article - Marine Policy

Dire Straits of the Russian Arctic: Options and Challenges for a Potential US FONOP in the Northern Sea Route

| March 2022

This paper focuses on the Russian claims regarding the Northern Sea Route that could be deemed valid targets for a Freedom of Navigation Operation by the United States. The analysis shows suggests that for the time being the United States will likely set aside plans for a FONOP in the Russian Arctic waters.