Maritime Communications in the Spatial Organization of the Arctic Version of the “Great Game”

Abstract

The article analyzes the role and importance of maritime communications in the spatial organization of the Arctic version of the “Great Game”, the main actors of which are Russia, China and the United States. The “Great Game” is also reaching a new level. If in the 19th century the parties to the confrontation were the great powers of the maritime and continental nature, having significant experience of imperial development, now the intercontinental (America — Eurasia) Arctic version of the “Great Game” is unfolding before our eyes along the meridian axis of the interface of the two hemispheres. The basis of this version is to achieve control over Arctic maritime communications in order to organize the most rational supply chains along the America — Asia line. Aim. Substantiation of Russia’s positioning in the contours of the strategic initiative “Let’s Make Russia Great Again” on the margins of the modern version of the “Great Game” in the new geopolitical conditions of the development of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) concept and the decline of the global ultra-liberal world order based on “rules”. Tasks. To determine the lines of probable intercontinental (America and Eurasia) confrontation on the Arctic sea communications along the meridian of the interface of the two hemispheres. To clarify and regulate the possibilities of coordinating military, political and economic activities in the Arctic. Methods. Strategic planning combined with the tools of spatial economics and the Western version of the latter, known as the theory of “new economic geography”. This makes it possible to substantiate the importance of maritime communications in the modern version of the “Great Game” and in the dynamics of the prospective development of the Russian Arctic. Conclusions. Against the background of the implementation of the MAGA concept in the western hemisphere, favorable conditions are being created in the fields of the modern (Arctic) version of the “Great Game” for the development of the strategic initiative “Let’s Make Russia Great Again” in the eastern hemisphere. This wi ll contribute to its guaranteed access to the North Atlantic from the Black Sea and Baltic directions, as well as strengthen its position in Northern Eurasia and the northern segment of the Indo-Pacific.