618A. Todorov (atodorov85@gmail.com),
Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO), 23, Profsoyuznaya Str., Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation
Abstract. Transnational crimes committed in the maritime domain pose a real threat to international security today. Climate change and opening of shipping routes in the Arctic actualize the need to assess this type of security threats for the polar region. While the official Arctic strategies of the five coastal states – Russia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and the USA, – in general, acknowledge threats to maritime security stemming from nonstate organized criminal actors, there is neither system-based understanding of these threats, differentiated approach to assessing specific types of potential maritime criminal activities, nor developing practical measures aimed at their prevention and suppression. Basing on the analysis of different maritime crimes, it seems reasonable to ascertain a generally low probability of their large-scale emergence in the Arctic in the nearest future. Main reasons for that are severe climate conditions, as well as economic and political stability of the region. However, the apparent and anticipated increase of Arctic shipping and development of new types of economic activities, such as tourism, can lead to increased risks related to transnational maritime criminal activity in the Arctic. In this regard, to date, the most real threat is posed by such crimes as terroristic attacks on cruise ships, illegal transportation of drugs and weapons using the main Arctic marine routes, illegal migration. It is obvious that the Arctic coastal states lack sufficient resources to efficiently address the threats related to transnational maritime crimes. In this context, special focus should be made on enhancing regional interstate cooperation in the field. Taking into account that the only regional mechanism responsible for enhancing coordination of national bodies regarding security-related issues is the Arctic Coast Guard Forum, it would be reasonable to endow this institution with the competence to develop joint measures for the suppression of potential maritime criminal activities in the Arctic. This could be made through development of a pan-Arctic legally binding agreement that would specify practical measures stipulated by other international agreements in the field of suppressing certain types of maritime crimes.
Keywords: Arctic, maritime security, piracy, maritime terrorism, drug-trafficking by sea, international security, Arctic Coast Guard Forum
REFERENCES
1. Michael Byers. International Law and the Arctic. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2013. 322 p. DOI:10.1017/CBO9781107337442
2. Kolodkin A.L., Gutsulyak V.N., Bobrova Yu.V. Mirovoi okean. Mezhdunarodno-pravovoi Rezhim. Osnovnye Problemy [World Ocean. The International Legal Regime. Main Problems]. Moscow, Statut, 2007. 637 p.
3. Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships. ICC International Maritime Bureau. Annual Report for the period 1 January – 31 December 2014. Available at: https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2014-Annual-IMB-Piracy-Report-ABRIDGED.pdf (accessed 25.11.2018).
4. Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships. ICC International Maritime Bureau. 2017 Annual Report. Available at: https://www.icc-ccs.org/reports/2017-Annual-IMB-Piracy-Report.pdf (accessed 25.11.2018).
5. IMO Annual Report on acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships, 2016: official text. Doc. IMO MSC.4/Circ.245. Available at: http://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Security/PiracyArmedRobbery/Reports/Documents/245%20Annual%202016.pdf (accessed 25.11.2018).
6. Vagg J. Rough Seas: Contempora1y Piracy in Southeast Asia. British Journal of Criminology, 1995, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 63-80.
7. Chalk P. The maritime dimension of international security: terrorism, piracy, and challenges for the United States. RAND Corporation, 2008. 59 p. Available at: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG697.pdf (accessed 25.11.2018).
8. Hansen Ñ.O. et al. Arctic Shipping – Commercial Opportunities and Challenges. Copenhagen, CBS Maritime, 2016. 94 p. Available at: https://services-webdav.cbs.dk/doc/CBS.dk/Arctic%20Shipping%20-%20Commercial%20Opportunities%20and%20Challenges.pdf (accessed 25.11.2018).
9. The volume of shipments on the Northerns Sea Route in 2017 grew by 36% – to 9.9 mln t. PortNews, 16.02.2018 (In Russ.) Available at: http://portnews.ru/news/253663/ (accessed 25.11.2018).
10. Todorov A. Mezhdunarodnyi tranzitnyi potentsial Severnogo morskogo puti: ekonomicheskii i pravovoi aspekty [The Northeast Passage`s Potential Capacity for International Shipping: the Economic and Legal Aspects]. National Strategy Issues, 2017, no. 3(42), pp. 149-171. Available at: https://riss.ru/images/pdf/journal/2017/3/11.pdf (accessed 25.11.2018).
11. Humpert M. Record Traffic on Northern Sea Route as COSCO Completes Five Transits. High North News, 03.09.2018. Available at: https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/record-traffic-northern-sea-route-cosco-completes-five-transits (accessed 25.11.2018).
12. Nincic D. Maritime Security in the Arctic: The threat from non-state actors. The 13th Annual General Assembly of the IAMU: Expanding Frontiers – Challenges and Opportunities in Maritime Education and Training, 2012. Available at: http://iamuedu.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Maritime-Security-in-the-Arctic-The-threat-from-non-state-actors.pdf (accessed 25.11.2018).
13. Arctic terror threats real: security agencies. CBC News, 10.11.2010 Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/arctic-terror-threats-real-security-agencies-1.868895 (accessed 25.11.2018).
14. Basics of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic for the Period till 2020 and for a Further Perspective. September 18, 2008 (In Rus.) Available at: http://government.ru/info/18359/ (accessed 25.11.2018).
15. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On Measures to Enhance State Governance in the Field of Terrorism Suppression”, 26.12.2015, no. 664 (In Rus.) Available at: http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/40332/print (accessed 25.11.2018).
16. National Security Presidential Directive and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, January 9, 2009. Available at: https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/nspd/nspd-66.htm (accessed 25.11.2018).
17. Conventions and Agreements. Terrorism (In Russ.) Available at: http://www.un.org/ru/documents/decl_conv/conv_terrorism.shtml (accessed 25.11.2018).
18. The RAND Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents. Available at: http://smapp.rand.org/rwtid/search_form.php (accessed 25.11.2018).
19. Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment Report. Arctic Council, 2009. 194 p. Available at: https://www.pame.is/images/03_Projects/AMSA/AMSA_2009_report/AMSA_2009_Report_2nd_print.pdf (accessed 25.11.2018).
20. Offerdal K. High North Energy: Myths and Realities. Security Prospects in the High North: Geostrategic Thaw or Freeze? Holtsmark Sven G., Smith-Windsor’s Brooke A., eds. Roma, NATO Defense College, 2009, pp. 151-178.
21. Kraska J., Pedrozo R. International Maritime Security Law. Leiden, Boston, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2013. 965 p.
22. Romashev Yu.S., Korbut L.V. Nezakonnyi oborot narkotikov na more i bor’ba s nim [Drug Trafficking on the sea and Fight Against it]. Moscow, Moskovskii issledovatel’skii tsentr po problemam transnatsional’noi organizovannoi prestupnosti i korruptsii pri Institute gosudarstva i prava RAN, 2003. 52 p.
23. Gudev P. Nevoennye ugrozy bezopasnosti v Arktike [Non-military treats to the Arctic security]. Mirovaya ekonomika i mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya, 2016, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 72-82.
24. Zysk K. Military Aspects of Russia’s Arctic Policy: Hard Power and Natural Resources. Arctic Security in an Age of Climate Change. Kraska J., ed. New York, Cambridge University Press, 2011, pp. 85-106.
25. Griffiths H., Jenks M. Maritime Transport and Destabilizing Commodity Flows. SIPRI Policy Paper 32, January 2012. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 2012. 64 p. Available at: https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/research/disarmament/dualuse/pdf-archive-att/pdfs/sipri-maritime-transport-and-destabilizing-commodity-flows.pdf (accessed 25.11.2018).
26. Norway’s Arctic Strategy, 2017. Available at: https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/fad46f0404e14b2a9b551ca7359c1000/arctic-strategy.pdf (accessed 25.11.2018).
27. Kingdom of Denmark Strategy for the Arctic 2011–2020. Available at: http://library.arcticportal.org/1890/1/DENMARK.pdf (accessed 25.11.2018).
28. Zagorskii A. Nestrategicheskie voprosy bezopasnosti i sotrudnichestva v Arktike [Conventional Security and Cooperation in the Arctic]. Moscow, IMEMO, 2016. 104 p. DOI:10.20542/978-5-9535-0492-8 Available at: https://www.imemo.ru/files/File/ru/publ/2016/2016_036.pdf (accessed 25.11.2018).
29. Conley H. A. et al. A New Security Architecture for the Arctic: An American Perspective. Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C., January 17, 2012. 45 p. Available at: https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/publication/120117_Conley_ArcticSecurity_Web.pdf (accessed 25.11.2018).
30. Declaration on the Establishment of the Arctic Council. September 19, 1996. Available at: https://oaarchive.arcticcouncil.org/bitstream/handle/11374/85/EDOCS-1752-v2-ACMMCA00_Ottawa_1996_Founding_Declaration.PDF?sequence=5&isAllowed=y (accessed 25.11.2018).
31. Osthagen A. The Arctic Coast Guard Forum: Big Tasks, Small Solutions. The Arctic Institute, November 2, 2015. Available at: https://www.thearcticinstitute.org/arctic-coast-guard-forum-big-tasks/ (accessed 25.11.2018).
32. Joint Statement from the Arctic states Coast Guards. Arctic coast guard forum. Available at: https://www.arcticcoastguardforum.com/news/joint-statement-arctic-states-coast-guards (accessed 25.11.2018).
Registered in System SCIENCE INDEX
No comments