{"id":13115,"date":"2016-10-31T12:50:39","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T11:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.redanalysis.org\/?p=13115"},"modified":"2017-10-31T18:05:33","modified_gmt":"2017-10-31T17:05:33","slug":"la-russie-arctique-rencontre-la-chinois-nouvelle-route-de-la-soie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redanalysis.org\/fr\/2016\/10\/31\/the-russian-arctic-meets-the-chinese-new-silk-road\/","title":{"rendered":"L'Arctique russe rencontre la nouvelle route de la soie chinoise"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this article on the development of the energy, business and military nexus of the Arctic by Russia, the Red (Team) Analysis Society<\/em> studies how the Russian Arctic is becoming a new crucial business and strategic \u201ccentre\u201d in the world, through the creation of numerous energy and infrastructure projects and operations, which attract Chinese companies (Jean-Michel Valantin, \u201cRussian Arctic Oil: a New Economic and Security Paradigm?<\/a>\u201d,The Red (Team) Analysis Society<\/em>, October 12, 2016).<\/p>\n

In effect, the Russian political, industrial and business authorities turn this immense extreme \"scenario,region into an international attractor, thanks to the combination of the consequences of climate change and of the natural resources, which become accessible because of the warming of the region and thus relative retreat of ice (see below in part 1, the\u00a028 Oct 2016 NASA video visualising the retreat of the Arctic ice since 1984).<\/p>\n

The Russian strategy is efficient with, among others, the Chinese and Norwegian business and strategic actors, as well as interests. The Russian Arctic attractor is deeply dominated by Russia\u2019s understanding and strategic vision of a quickly and massively changing planet (Jean-Michel Valantin, “The Arctic, Russia and China’s Energy Transition<\/a>“,\u00a0The Red (Team) Analysis Society<\/em>, 2 February, 2015) and \u201cThe Planetary Crisis Rules (Part 1)\u201d, The Red (Team) Analysis Society<\/em>, 27 January 2016).<\/p>\n

China is sharing with Russia the understanding of the very practical consequences of the current planetary change upon politics and the economy. Consequently, the Chinese political and business authorities take action to turn these changes to their advantage (Valantin, \u201cThe Chinese Shaping of the North<\/a>\u201d,\u00a0The Red (Team) Analysis Society<\/em>, 9 June 2014). This goes with the development of commercial and strategic negotiations and partnerships with Russia, the dominant power of the Eurasian Arctic region.<\/p>\n

This phenomenon is typical of the new convergence between the current economy, geopolitics, and the emergent \u201cAnthropocene\u201d geological era. (Jean-Michel Valantin, \u201cThe Anthropocene Era and economic (in)security<\/a>\u201d,\u00a0The Red (Team) Analysis Society<\/em>,\u00a019 September 2016). The international geophysics community thus qualified this new era because humankind has become the main geological and biological force on the planet, and this immense force is driving a planetary change that affects the atmosphere, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere and the biosphere (J. R. Mac Neill,\u00a0Something New Under the Sun<\/em><\/a>, 2000).<\/p>\n

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  • The Arctic Power Race: the New Great Game<\/a><\/li>\n
  • Arctic Fusion: Russia and China Convergent Strategies<\/a><\/li>\n
  • The Arctic, Russia and China\u2019s Energy Transition<\/a><\/li>\n
  • China and the new silk road: from oil wells to the moon\u2026 and beyond<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    In this article, we shall more particularly focus upon the way the current energy, industrial and military development of the Russian changing Arctic is attracting public and private Chinese sectors, meanwhile becoming the new and long-term giant support of economic, business and security development for these two countries. We shall thus see the resulting interlocking of the Russian Arctic strategy with the Chinese \u201cNew Silk Road\u201d initiative.<\/p>\n

    Creating a Russian Eurasian corridor on an extreme planet<\/h1>\n

    Over the last few years, Russia has been accelerating and intensifying the energy, commercial and military development of its land and sea Arctic region. The Russian political, industrial and trade authorities are creating an energy, industry and maritime trade corridor, which connects Asia to Europe. By the same operation, they are turning their Arctic zone into a new oil and gas Eldorado (Charles Emerson, The Future History of the Arctic<\/em><\/a>, 2010).<\/p>\n

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    What makes this extreme endeavour possible is the fact that this immense region is profoundly affected by the warming wrought by anthropogenic climate change. In effect, during the last fifty years, the Arctic region has known the most rapidly warming on the planet, with a 3\u00b0 to 4\u00b0 degrees increase in average temperatures (Thomas Nilsen, \u201cArctic Russia Warms 2.5 Times Faster Than the Rest of the Globe<\/a>\u201d, The Independent Barents Observer<\/em>, November 29, 2015).<\/p>\n

    The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice is most strikingly shown in this 28 October 2016 animation gathering latest research by NASA\u00a0below, where “Dr. Walt Meier of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center also describes how the sea ice has undergone fundamental changes during the era of satellite measurements.” (NASA, “See How Arctic Sea Ice Is Losing Its Bulwark Against Warming Summers<\/a>\u00a0“, 28 Oct 216).<\/p>\n