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. 

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.