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Shattered Visions: Beringia International Park and the Limits of Transnational Environmental Cooperation

Fri, April 1, 8:30 to 10:00am, Westin Seattle Hotel, Grand Crescent

Abstract

This paper will look at the failed attempt of the USSR/Russian Federation and the United States to form Beringia International Park. Conceived in the late-1980s, this park sought to establish closer relations between the United States and the USSR through shared environmental protection projects, the free passage of indigenous peoples to the two countries, the revival of indigenous folk traditions, and the development of ecotourism. Invigorated by the belief that Perestroika’s economic reforms, increased openness, and responsiveness to citizen demand could revitalize indigenous communities that had suffered immensely under Soviet rule, Russian environmentalists and landscape planners embraced an ambitious plan for the Soviet side that promised dramatic economic improvements and cultural revival for the largely uneducated Chukchi and Eskimo populations. Deeply concerned about the “predatory” use of the natural resources of Chukotka and desperately looking for new hope after decades of oppression, these indigenous populations enthusiastically supported the idea through which they believed they could attain greater rights to self-governance. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic chaos that ensued, plans for the park stalled and the Chukotka Okrug sought to turn the indigenous population against idea and illegally established a provincial nature park that the government of the Russian Federation did not recognize. Not knowing who to trust, the Chukchi and Eskimo populations again felt like pawns in political games over which they had no influence. With almost all concerned parties on the Russian side deeply suspicious of one another, the idea that had engendered much hope just years before seemed a pipe dream. This paper will conclude by placing this failure in the larger context of the Russian Federation’s difficulties to enact environmental protection measures following the Soviet Union’s collapse.

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