[28.11.07] Russia and the North
Centre for Russian Studies’ Annual Conference 2007
28 and 29 November
Russia and the North
Russia has a key role to play in the international politics of the North, being the largest ‘Arctic’ state geographically and an important regional and global actor in an energy market that is increasingly looking northwards. Russia, unlike Norway, does not have a single strategy outlining economic and political aims for the North. Rather, Putin’s administration has aimed to handle development issues and challenges in this area through channels not specific to the North. However, a number of opportunities and challenges unique to the northern areas remain, requiring specifically northern policy responses. Consequently, the outline of what could be called a Russian northern policy is dispersed across a variety of fields from domestic migration politics to oil and gas development.
The aim of this conference is to pick up these threads of northern policy to present a picture of the key features of Russian northern politics. Conference papers and panel discussions will examine both the main factors driving the need for specifically northern policy responses and the structure and effectiveness of these policy responses themselves.
Programme
Wednesday, 28 November
Venue: Håndverkeren konferansesenter, Festsalen
Address: Rosenkrantz gate 7
10.00 - 10.15 Welcome and opening statement
Jan Egeland, Director of Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
10.15 – 12.00 Panel 1 – The North in foreign and security policy
Chair: Helge Blakkisrud, NUPI
North as a vector in Russian foreign policy
Andrey Kortunov, New Eurasia Foundation
The revival of the North in military terms
Pavel Baev, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO)
12.00 - 13.00 Lunch
13.00 - 14.30 Panel 2 – The North in Russian bilateral and multilateral cooperation
Chair: Stina Torjesen, NUPI
Russia and Northern multilateralism
Elana Wilson Rowe, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI)
Cross-border cooperation in the North: The case of Northwest Russia
Geir Hønneland, Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI)
14.30 - 14.45 Coffee break
14.45 - 16.45 Panel 3 – Demography, indigenous peoples and federalism in the North
Chair: Indra Øverland, NUPI
Migration and restructuring in the Russian far North
Timothy Heleniak, University of Maryland
Small indigenous peoples and industrial projects in Northern Russia
Anna Sirina, Institute of ethnology and anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences
Northern administration and federalism
Helge Blakkisrud, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI)
Thursday, 29 November
NB! Venue: NUPI, Sanness conference room.
Address: C.J. Hambros plass 2D
09.00 - 10.30 Panel 4 – The energy resources of the North
Chair: Jakub Godzimirski, NUPI
Hydrocarbons in the Russian North: The case of the Yamal peninsula
Arild Moe, Fridtjof Nansen Institute
Hydrocarbons in the Russian North: Implications for Russian foreign policy
Tatiana Polyakova, Moscow State Institute for International Relations
10.30 - 10.45 Coffee break
10.45 - 12.15 Panel 5 – Climate policy and economic trends in the North
Chair: Elana Wilson Rowe, NUPI
Russian climate policy, the Kyoto protocol and beyond
Craig ZumBrunnen, University of Washington
The strategic government policies in the Russian North
Kari Liuhto, Pan-European Institute
Please notify your participation no later than 26 November to seminar@nupi.no