Russian Oil Games In The Arctic Shelf
Aby August 4th, 2007
Russia, which has been claiming the Arctic region since the last few months, made a strategic move by having scientists plant the Russian flag 4200m below the North Pole ice bed (August 2, 207). This act follows several other decisive anti-West moves of the Vladimir Putin government in the past few months. It also signifies the rising nationalism in Russia which Putin is cashing on for his strategic political advantage. Putin is the hero of the Russians as he showed that he would not hesitate to wield power in international circles for the political, military and national interests of Russia. Before the Russophobes and Anglo-US moralists cry foul over Russia’s recent move in the Arctic, let us look back at the facts on the Arctic dispute which could have caused it all.
A video from Russia Today on the recent polar Arctic expedition by Russian scientists
According to geological surveys made in US and other parts of the world, the Arctic shelf contains a quarter of the energy resources in the world. The melting polar ice caps created the possibility of new sea routes and oil fields, causing quite a few disputes among US, Denmark, Canada and Russia about the ownership of the Arctic shelf. The US attitude gave a red signal to Putin and his team about the possibility of US capturing, or at least taking over a part of the Arctic shelf for its own interests. One significant pointer to such a possibility is the United States’ refusal to to ratify the 1982 United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, as the senators did not want International norms to restrict America from drilling in neutral zones like international waters and Arctic zone.
Vladimir Putin was well aware that it is only a matter of years before the US would make either a justification or a claim, and capture the Arctic shelf for itself or its allies - beyond the bounds of international laws. History is evident of such trends in US foreign policy, especially in the Asia Pacific region and American Hemisphere, which Putin as an ex-KGB agent, is well aware of. Thus Putin decided to act quick and seized the opportunity which made the US and its allies cry foul, once they realised that Putin beat them in their political game. It was a strategic move towards a diplomatic takeover of Arctic region rather than the military seizure which the US is so used to. The 100+ billion ton oil and natural gas reserves in the Arctic shelf could well push Russia to a global oil power which coupled with its military strength, could make for another super power.
Vladimir Putin still maintains that Russia would go by the international norms and not capture Arctic territory surreptitiously, which is met with scepticism among some political circles. Going by the usual trends, Russophobes cry foul about how Russia uses energy and oil to manipulate European politics while Russians have something more to support their President on…
- Internationalism , Russia
- Comments(19)
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Russia has created two records, one by reaching the North Pole and the other is that the Russian divers went upto 4200 meters deep inside the sea,a feet which has never been achieved by man in the past. The Russians have not attacked any country to grab their territory but acted fast to achieve what they wanted now. President Putin deserves praise for his actions in bringing Russia back on track and now after almost one and half decades the world has seen a country that is really challinging the U.S and that too in the form of the successor of Soviet Union. We are going to see many more from the Russians in the coming days….
Russia has “not attacked any country to grab their territory”? That’s a joke right?
Arugula
Putin has truly gone wrong in the head with his outrageous demands. Russia is already bigger than any other country now and if they could not do with all that oil they have, they will not do any better when they take Arctic.
Putin is obsessed with opposing everything that has to do with the west. Russia has no moral or legal right to covet Arctic territory for itself. The whole world condemns this obsessive and greedy act on part of Russia, one cannot just use 15th century ideas to grab land in 21st century world.
Well, first of all Arugula is right, because a great deal of Russian territory was annexed by force and conquest (so is with America) , but thats how the world is, take it before someone else does. Second of all, about Putin being wrong in the head, I dont think so, any world leader who wishes to make his or her country stronger would have done the same thing. Third of all, its not about opposing the west, its about showing west that we dont give a damn about what they think or want if our interests are at stake and we are not obliged to listen to what you want us to do. I am absolutely certain that Canada would have tried to do the same if they were in position to, but ofcourse Canada cant voice its own opinion beacuse it flows from Washington. Were as England is concerned, you better monitor whats going on in your own backyard and get your men out of iraq (who truly believe they have nothing to do in Iraq because I have spoken to many). And Russia was not the only country to lay claims so did America, Denmark and Canada (they just got there before you, too bad isnt it to be beaten by barbarians who walk with bears and do nothing but drink vodka).
I din’t mean that Russians have not attacked a country in the past to grab their territory, but I meant at present they din’t attack any country to grab the Arctic bed. They acted fast to claim what they wanted. Like Americans they din’t attack a country like Iraq in this 21st century for the sake of oil with all false charges and killed innocent civilians . The Americans have already destroyed a helpless country (Iraq) and put them into the brink of a civil war. Each country has its own interests, the Chinese wants to annex Tibet and India and Pakistan are fighting for Kashmir. Nowadays the Russians are not dancing to the tunes of the U.S and the west. President Putin is taking some tough measures to safeguard his country’s interest, which is not going well with the U.S and the west. The U.S and west should first stop interfearing in other C.I.S countries affairs like Ukraine, Georgia, Kirgistan etc. for their dirty politics against Russia.
@ Mossad - “Putin is obsessed with opposing everything that has to do with the west. Russia has no moral or legal right to covet Arctic territory for itself.”
Reality is often alien from moral idealism. Did the US and UK have any moral or legal right when they enslaved populations of Africa. Captures foreign lands. Supressed protests by bullets? Fact is, Russia is hardly doing any of those acts in the Arctic which the moral sayers were themselves guilty of in the past.
@ Mossad - “The whole world condemns this obsessive and greedy act on part of Russia, one cannot just use 15th century ideas to grab land in 21st century world.”
By whole world, do you mean Canada, US and UK? Because I don’t see many other countries complaining about it except the few Anglo-Saxon allies who are hardly represent world views.
@G.Vinod
Russia”has not attacked any country to grab thier territory”
—–Afghanistan 1979——
Mr.Nofal - I clarified that Russians din’t attack any country at present.
@ nofal - “—–Afghanistan 1979——”
If you mean the Soviet Afghan War of the 80s, one would not really consider it an invasion when looking through a realistic neutral viewpoint. The term ‘invasion’ was used by NATO allies as a propaganda catchword against Soviet help extended to Afghan PDPA government to counter Islamic fundamentalists trying to bring down the government. The NATO countries, mainly US and UK felt threatened by the Soviet influence so close to the oil rich gulf and acted by using radical Islamism to asymmetrically counter Soviet troops. It haunts the United States still today, their own weapons turned back on them, after all Al Qaeda and Taliban were created by them. They used the brutal fascist nature of radical Islam to create anti-Soviet sentiments in the Arab world and after the unexpected collapse of Soviet Union the same Islamists changed target, against the ‘enemies of Islam’ next in line - United States of America. Such ‘ends justify the means‘ approach at handling problems by US helped creating unforeseen problems as ‘side effects‘.
Nobody here has mentioned the fact that the arctic shelf which contains all of these resources has been known to exist for many years. It is only now, in light of global warming trends that raise arctic temperatures and melt more ice in the sea bed, that Russia can even manage to get to this shelf and plant a flag. How ironic that global warming (caused by the extraction and use of natural resources) has opened up a territory of underwater land that contains 25% of all the known resources in the world. Since the entire world has partaken in causing global warming, and because the state of global warming is the only thing that allows the extraction of these new arctic resources, then does not the whole world own this land, and not any one nation?
Perhaps nobody should own this underwater continental shelf? Perhaps any resources extracted from this area should be used responsibly and for the benefit of people who are murdered every day because of global warming. Global warming has dried up rivers, lakes and other bodies of water and has resulted in drought, starvation and ensuing criminal riots. These are all murders that the entire world is responsible for.
I agree with the above comment. The U.S is mainly responsible for global warming and has really not taken any serious steps to counter it. The Americans started war against Iraq just for oil and still the war is not over. Thousands are already killed in Iraq by the U.S. Global warming indirectly kills living things but the Americans have made Iraq a hell for their selfish designs. I dont see anything wrong with the Russians claiming the Arctic bed and they have done it without killing anyone.
@ Vinod
Are you some kind of a russian agent in india ?? its disgusting leave the russian undercarriage alone. Please do some research and find out what US as a society stands for….undestand how that nation was built and from what..what the americans of 1940’s did….dont be naive and give in to the left’s propaganda.
And moreover be it nations or corporations they dont have emotions or friends…they have interests…interests mate…. if india canceled the next big arms deal with russia they will certainly try to sell the same weapons to pakistan..and by the way china already is a big market for russian weapons…its left to you to imagine against whom chinese will use these weapons.
@ Mel
Are you working in a detective agency? Well if Iam supporting the Russians it dosent mean that Iam a Russian agent. I know Indian history better than you. I am supporting a country (Russia) which helped us in all our wars against the Pakistanis. Russia is a true friend of India and the Russians stand by their principle not to sell arms to Pakistan which may be used against the Indians.
In that sense the Russians can very well be trusted. Even on India’s war against China, it was the Russians who acted as a mediators between the two countries because both the countries are Russia’s friends. We know very well that the U.S cannot be a trusted friend as if you know their history, they supported and armed Iraq against Iran during their war in the 80’s.
Now the same U.S has made Iraq a hell by killing millions of innocent people. What for the U.S waged war against Iraq???? For W.M.D????? And if so where are they????? Even a school child can say that the stupid war is totally meant for oil and oil alone. If there is an option to choose between the U.S and the Russians as a friend we can simply choose the Russians because our trusted friendship is almost 60 years old. I register my views against the U.S only because of their stupid war against weak countries and their barbaric treatment of prisoners of war and mindless killings. I love the U.S as a country more than you but hate the policies of its politicians.
Nothing to worry G. Vinod buddy but Americans and their ass lickers can never believe someone can be supportive of Russia without being a Russian agent. It is their “whatever the facts are, we are always right, God Bless America!” attitude. For them Russia is a evil commie country which needs to be ’shown its place’ for creating a world where US can’t mess around. Think - if there were no Russia, what would have been the state of China and India? Nuked and damaged nations. McArthur would have nuked China in 1962 if they didn’t have a friendship pact with Russia. Carter would have had India nuked in 1972 war if Khruschev didn’t send a torpedo submarine behind USS Missouri (to deter the 8 nuclear missiles from being launched on India). It is because of people like Mel that India went under the British rule. Because they never learn from history. Because they are easy fodder for wel designed PR news. They are always easy target for seperatist messages. India cannot afford to alienate Russia which has always been true to its word with India. India cannot trust USA which prefers petty interests over commitments.
There was a war in 1972? Carter would have India nuked? U.S.S. Missouri?
You should clarify your data…
There was a war in 1971 that extended into ‘72. BUT… Richard Nixon was the president at the time and he sent the U.S.S. Enterprise to the Bay of Bengal. Soviet Union did dispatch nuclear submarines that shadowed the Enterprise.
Although Mr. Aditya Mishra got the basic figures wrong, the events are still correct.
During the Indo-Pak war of 1971, the US stood for Pakistan with money, materials and moral support. The US agenda was to counter India from becoming a Soviet expanding force in Asia despite the fact that India chose not to side with any Cold War blocs. The USS Enterprise was sent in the hope that it can threaten and dissuade India from the war. If it had its way and were Soviet submarines not tailing it, India might have been the victim of another US holocaust. Now looking at the strategic point or view and considering past history, it would be abandoning old friends if India were to choose US over Russia.
At present, the US was conductive in providing India with low cost back end jobs so that their own production expenses are reduced. India is the ultimate destination for such jobs with its large pool of English speaking people, who are happy getting a salary that equals the amount an average American teenager spends on clubbing and fast foods. Not a bad deal.
The USSR ensured India stood in Asia as a political and military power of its own right. It let India be on its own, without interefering in India’s internal governance which is a lot from a superpower like Soviet Union. That is a far call from US activities in India’s neighbour Pakistan where it put a series of right wing dictators, when it feared a democratic government might have un-American policies. Would India have been any better off than Pakistan or Philippines if it was a US ally during the Cold War? I think that would be a food for thought for our readers, I reserve my views on this.
When we look at history we should go by the facts rather than idlyllic justifcations. It is natural of the US to claim good things about itself, it is naive to take it as a scientific theory. Expecting Americans to have open views about US acitivies around the world is like expecting the Catholic cardinals to speak of the virtues of Buddhism over Christianity.
Thank You Aditya Mirshra and Aby for giving more facts to those who forget the history. I pray that your views should open the eyes of all the Indians who forgot the help India got from Soviet Union and now Russia. Even though India is tilting towards the evil designs of the U.S, the Russians did not think the other way and they are ready to work with Indians in many fields, be it the Chandrayan 2 mission to Moon or the joint production of 5th generation aircrafts etc. Russia has also given licence for manufacturing SU30 MKI to India which is a proof that they are our real trusted friends. I hope that the Indians won’t fall into the strategic web of the U.S and suffer humiliation. Russia today, is a growing economic power and already a Military Super power under President Putin’s strong leadership and hence moving away from this trusted ally will be dangerous for the Indians.
The saying, “Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests” is perfectly applicable in the case of the United States. A look back at history is all that is needed.