Abstract
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) has for decades been one of the most contentious political issues in U.S.-Soviet/Russian Arctic relations. The United States claims that the ice-covered straits are international and subject to the right of transit passage, while Russia claims them as internal waters. Both states invoke national security as one of the more important interests substantiating and warranting their respective stands. The purpose of this article is to discuss the naval utility of the route in light of the operational requirements applying in shallow and ice-infested waters. The military-strategic value of the NSR will be shown to be low as a link between the Northern and Pacific Fleets, as a station area for nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), and as a militarized surveillance area. In terms of perceptions, it has, however, a long history of consistent overrating, which also affects the legal regimes. Conclusions include that most of the reasons behind the overrated military security perceptions and the expansive legal positions relate to global macro-strategic interests in regions far removed from the NSR itself.
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