ASYMMETRIC NEIGHBORHOOD THROUGH THE EYES OF HISTORIANS

TO THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KIRKENES DECLARA TION

KARI MYKLEBOST

SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW

UNIVERSITY OF TROMSØ

VLADISLAV GOLDIN

PROFESSOR, NORTHERN (ARCTIC)

FEDERAL UNIVERSITY

The University of Tromse is the northernmost in the world. Arkhangelsk is located a little bit to the south. Both regions maintain long-standing relationship. Long distance from capital cities and location on remote borders of national markets encouraged “direct ties” mostly between Russian traders and fishermen from northern Norway.

A specific language even emerged – Russenorsk. In Soviet times the ties were disrupted and resumed only in the end of the 1980s. Episodic contacts between Norwegian and Russian historians became regular at the time. Kari Myklebost and Vladislav Goldin told Amber Bridge how academic cooperation is developing

Arkhangelsk was closed for foreigners when a Norwegian delegation arrived to attend a regular conference on Scandinavia. How did cooperation between Russian and Norwegian historians develop?

Cooperation between Arkhangelsk historians and Norwegian colleagues began on August 10, 1986 when the Pauline yacht docked at the Red wharf of Arkhangelsk with a group of historians and museum staff from northern Norway. The yacht sailed along the same route as Pomor vessels used to. To allow entry to the closed port of Arkhangelsk a special permission had to be obtained from Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Historian and Director of then Arkhangelsk Pedagogical Institute and later the head of the Lomonosov Pomor Institute Vladimir Bulatov contributed a lot to the development of Russian-Norwegian academic relationship.

The first collection of articles headlined Historic Ties of the Russian North with Norway (devoted to the bicentenary of the town of Varde) came out in 1989 while The Arkhangelsk Pedagogical Institute hosted the XI Pan-Soviet conference to study Scandinavian countries and Finland in which Norwegian scholars participated.

A cooperation agreement between the Pomor University and the University of Tromse promoted the holding in November 1992 of the scientific conference Norwegian-Russian Relations in 1814-1917. At the same time in Tromse a special issue of the Otar museum magazine came out under the title Norway and Russia in the North with articles by Arkhangelsk and Norwegian colleagues. Later Norwegian historians arrived in Arkhangelsk to present their publication Pomor. Gyldendal Norsk Forlag,

1992 in the local university. It was devoted to relations between northern Norway and northern Russia and edited by University of Tromse Professor Einar Niemi. Russian-Norwegian relations were broadly represented in the first volume of Pomor Encyclopedia (History of Arkhangelsk north) which came out in Arkhangelsk in 2001.

The Arkhangelsk school of Scandinavian and Nordic research developed in close cooperation with Norwegian historians and leading Russian research centers, including The General History Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences headed by Academician Alexander Chubaryan and the Center for History of Northern Europe and Baltic Region under the leadership of Alexey Komarov. In close contact with the institute the Pomor University in Arkhangelsk held the XIV and XVI conferences on Scandinavian countries and Finland in 2001 and 2008. Alexander Chubaryan jointly with Norwegian Professor Olav Riste were initiators and co-chairs of the editorial board of the fundamental documentary Russian-Norwegian publication Soviet-Norwegian Relations in 1917-1955 which was a sample model of such publications.

The Kirkenes Declaration on cooperation in the Barents Sea will marked the 20th anniversary in January 2013. How did cooperation in the Barents Euro-Arctic Region promote academic ties?

Myklebost. The emergence of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region created a completely new atmosphere and trans-border contacts in the north. The BEAR ideology worked to revive and expand international ties of four countries in the northwestern corner of Europe. It is implemented both in the cultural-economic and regional-administrative aspects. Academic cooperation is clearly on the rise. In 1990-2000 historians from the University of Tromse cooperated with colleagues in Arkhangelsk and Murmansk in a series of research and publication projects and student exchanges. Other faculties and desks of the University of Tromse were also involved.

Major allocations have been provided for that since 1993 by the BEAR Secretariat in Kirkenes, the Norwegian foreign ministry and other national institutions. The main ground for cooperation was the declared will to develop trans-border contacts.

Research by historians helped form the region not only as a functional one due to political and business interests, but also as a historic based on millennium-long good relations between Norway and Russia and century-old traditions of Norwegian-Pomor trade.

In June 1993 Arkhangelsk hosted the first international scientific conference devoted to BEAR development prospects – Barents Sea Region: Cooperation in Education and Science. A chartered Tu-134 aircraft brought a big Norwegian delegation from Tromse to Arkhangelsk. It included representatives of science, education, and politicians. During the visit Foreign Ministers of Norway and Russia Johan Jorgen and Andrei Kozyrev opened on the basis of the Pomor University a Norwegian- Pomor Center which played a major role in the development of relations between the two countries. The Barents-Center information office was later opened.

In 1993 after the BEAR creation I made my first two trips to the University of Tromse. Two important projects were initiated at the time. The first one resulted in the publication in Archangelsk (in 1996 in Norwegian and in 1997 in Russian language) of a collection of articles by Russian and Norwegian historians Fears and Expectations. Russia and Norway in the XX Century. Its authors and editors were Jens Peter Nilsen and me. Also in 1993 a conference in Tromse initiated an international scientific project of northern universities in Barents Sea region called State, Religion, Ethnos in the North. 700-1990.

In 2001 when I was deputy director for scientific work in the Pomor University I began to publish an international historic and archive and public-political Barents-Journal (founded by the Pomor University and the University of Tromse with the support of BEAR Secretariat). The magazine was a place to discuss historic and modern problems in BEAR, including Russian-Norwegian relations. Besides, Vladimir Bulatov co-authored with head of the Barents information center Andrei Shalev a manual Barents Euro-Atlantic Region and Arkhangelsk Region: International Cooperation and Barents Euro-Atlantic Region: History and Modern Times. The Pomor University has created successfully operating research centers, such as the Center for comparative religious and ethno-semiotic studies of the peoples of the Barents Sea, the Training Center Ethnocultural and Humanitarian Geography of the Arctic and Sub-Arctic, the Center for traditional culture of the European North, the Gender Research Center, the Scientific and Education Center for fundamental problems of the history of cooperation and rivalry in the Arctic.

Research and publishing activities intensify as jubilees approach. They include the centenary of independence of the Kingdom of Norway (which the Russian Empire was the first to recognize) and the bicentennial of Napoleonic wars which resulted in major changes in Northern Europe. The bicentennial of the Norwegian Constitution is not far off.

First and foremost, it is necessary to remember the cultural-historic exhibition Russia-Norway. Through Centuries and Borders which was devoted to the centenary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Norway. Arkhangelsk historians participated in the project. A catalogue of the same name was prepared for publication with 500 pages explaining the main historic and modern problems in Russian-Norwegian relations.

The project was initiated by the Norwegian foreign ministry and the ministry of culture and mass communications of Russia. The exhibition was prepared for five years. We had to select, restore and receive a big number of exhibits from museums and other organizations of Norway and Russia. The e x h i b i t i o n opened in 2004 in the Folk Museum in Oslo. In 2005 it moved to the Ethnographic Museum in St. Petersburg. Exhibits demonstrated the history of versatile m i l l e n n i u m – long relations between Norway and Russia and what was more important the rapidly developing relations of the past 25 years. The project resulted in new initiatives – seminars, publications, and exchange of exhibitions. The exhibition and the catalogue undoubtedly promoted a better understanding of historic relations between Norway and Russia.

The positive experience is used today to prepare two-volume publication devoted to Russian-Norwegian relations which is to come out by the bicentennial of the Kingdom of Norway in 2014. The project was initiated in 2007 and called Asymmetric Neighborhood. Norway and Russia in 1914- 2014. In September 2008 at the XVI conference to study Scandinavian countries Arkhangelsk held a detailed discussion of the concept and contents of the first volume. In June 2012 the authors met again in Oslo.

The project involves close to 25 Norwegian and Russian scholars. They studied various dimensions of relations between the two countries in the past two centuries. The richly illustrated two volumes will tell the reader about interstate relations and people-to-people contacts. The publication will contribute to festive events in 2014. Until now there has been no full-fledged research of Norwegian-Russian relations in the last two centuries. The historic work will be useful not only for academic circles but for all Norwegians and Russians participating in bilateral cooperation. It pays specific attention to northern areas which is only natural as Norwegian-Russian relations were most intensive there both in history and nowadays.

The Asymmetric Neighborhood concept has two complementing and intercrossing perspectives. The first and most clear one is the role of Russia as a great power in contrast to the role of Norway as a small country which was the decisive factor for Norwegian choice of the security vector. If we move from interstate relations to civil society the picture will be quite the opposite: Russia was weak while Norway for historic reasons had a stronger grass-root organization of society and a more even distribution of social benefits.

In the XIX century the Norwegian-Russian border was the only place where Russia directly contacted Western Europe. During the Cold War it was the only place where the Soviet Union directly contacted a European NATO country without any buffer zone. The main intercrossing question is why long-term Norwegian-Russian stability could exist despite the double asymmetry?

The research also provides another guideline for reciprocal perceptions of each other. Russia as a great power bordering on Norway in the north played a major role in the development of Norwegian nation in the XIX century, but mostly a negative role. In Russia perceptions of the small country of Norway were peripheral in public discussion although we know that in some liberal circles of Russia Norway was considered a vibrant democracy which could serve as an example. In the second half of the XIX century the Finnmark province was considered to be an example to follow for the north on the Russian side of the border. After the Bolshevik revolution the wind changed and many Norwegians began to consider Soviet socialism as an example for Norway.

The project was headed by the history and religion faculty of the University of Tromse in Norway. It involved scholars from the institutes in Oslo, Bergen, Kirkenes, Moscow, St.Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, and Petrozavodsk. The project thus balanced the central and regional perspectives. The Universities of Tromse and Arkhangelsk are the regional institutions of the North, while the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies in Oslo and the General History Institute in Moscow are central organizations.

The main aim of the project was to raise awareness about the significance of the historic past for the development of modern relations between Norway and Russia. Besides the two-volume publication the project is implemented also in several specialized publications. We have already published two collections of articles: Norway and Russia in the Arctic and Cautiousness and Benevolence. Russian-Norwegian Diplomatic Relations in 1814-2014.

In May 2012 the Russian Humanitarian Scientific Fund and the Norwegian Research  Council signed an agreement. Which cooperation prospects does it open?

As a researcher and expert of the Russian Humanitarian Scientific Fund (RGNF) I can say the experience of such international projects stipulates joint academic activity. I hope research, publishing and other projects of Russian authors and joint projects with Norwegians colleagues would emerge and enjoy support of the RGNF. They will be devoted to the history and modern times of Norway, Russian-Norwegian relations, and the Barents Sea region. I can only welcome them.

The Norwegian side enthusiastically welcomed the agreement as it will simplify the launch of projects in which both parties participate on an equal basis. On behalf of my colleagues and me I can say that historic research is a tiresome process which demands long-term perspective. It takes much time to get access to foreign archives. It concerns both Norwegian scholars working in Russia and Russian scientists in Norwegian archives. The reciprocal research of sources is very fruitful. Detailed knowledge of Russian history helps Russian researchers find documents in Norwegian archives and systemize them in the correct context which helps evaluate their significance.

In recent years several collections on Norwegian-Russian relations came out, for example, the above mentioned book Soviet-Norwegian Relations in 1917-1955. New

collections are being prepared. The publications are of a vital importance for future research. They simplify access to primary sources of information about relations between Norway and Russia. It is necessary to implement the agreement on cooperation of archives. We hope the agreement between RGNF and the Norwegian Research Council will promote such initiatives.

In 2015 the town of Jinan will host a new world congress of historians. In September the assembly of the International committee for history science discussed its program in Budapest. Kari Myklebost represented Norwegian historians at the assembly. Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea region are often called exemplary regions of the world. Can we hope North European historians and their works will be as convincing?

The University of Tromse works to deepen cooperation of North European historians, as well as historians from the Barents Sea area. The University plans to develop relations with the University in Umea (Sweden) and Arkhangelsk (Russia) and also establish contacts with institutes in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Murmansk and cities in Sweden and Finland. Thus, our University hopes to implement an ambitious plan of expanded research of the North in the North. Various faculties of the University of Tromse are designing a master plan of multi-faceted research of northern regions. An important part is to lecture history of northern regions.

Historians from the Barents Sea region have a common professional interest and so far we have only touched some archive materials of mutual interest. It gives hope for future academic cooperation. The same concerns the positive experience of the Asymmetric Neighborhood.

The last question is about personal creative plans.

There are over ten books in the plan, as well as a series of articles some of which are close to completion. The issues are different: history of Russia and international relations in the XX century, Russian military abroad, science studies. The conference held in Arkhangelsk in October completed the major international project which I headed – 1917-1922 in the Fate of Russia and the World.

The mentioned conference in Arkhangelsk created the Association of Russian Civil War Researchers and I was elected its chairman which adds duties, as well as the work in the Academic Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences on social reform, movements and revolutions in which I head the northwestern section. In the Asymmetric Neighborhood project I am in the editorial group that prepares the two-volume publication which is also a major responsibility.

In Asymmetric Neighborhood we progressed to the final stage of preparation – the manuscript will be submitted to the publishing house. Some project participants are engaged in a new and more specialized project – on academic relations of northern countries, including Finland with Russia and the Soviet Union in the past two centuries. The working name of the project is Science History in Extreme North. In involves historians from Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. We are currently in the embryo state and are looking for financing.

The joint record of academic cooperation, specifically in Arctic research of the XIX and XX centuries, is one of the topics of Asymmetric Neighborhood. Work with archives revealed that much has to be researched yet. In Scandinavia and Russia Arctic research was a national business and in the time of the Cold War it was also a secret national security guideline. Available literature offers numerous descriptions of rivalry between states in Arctic research and expeditions which enjoyed general respect.

However it is only a part of the general picture. Review of personal archives of distinguished Arctic researchers, such as Fridtjof Nansen, Harald Ulrik Sverdrup, Leonid Breitfus, and Vladimir Vise demonstrate a variety of personal approaches regardless of ethnic or national origin. There is no doubt that distinguished Arctic researchers from Norway, Russia and the Soviet Union believed in late XIX century up to the 1930s that they worked for the benefit of the science rather than national interests. Fridtjof Nansen corresponded with many Russian colleagues and exchanged experience and scientific data with them, provided and received advice and even logistical support in planning expeditions. The same relations existed between Arctic researchers of Sweden, Finland, and Russia. It is a part of Polar research which has not been paid sufficient attention so far as it demands the knowledge of languages and an understanding of the essence of Polar research during work in archives. Nansen, Breitfus and their contemporaries corresponded in various languages (English, German, French, Russian) on very specialized issues.

In the framework of the Science History in Extreme North project we discovered a multi-language network of historians who are keen in the history of Polar research. We hope to find financing. We want to describe cooperation history in natural sciences and in the sphere of culture, including transnational research of the Saami culture and border population of Fennoscandia and the Russian North.

 

Relations between Russian and Norwegian historians developed very favorably in the past twenty years. The main results of the cooperation are, firstly, the volume of archive documents Soviet- Norwegian Relations in 1917-1955 which triggered a major response. Secondly, it is a big cultural-historic exhibition Russia- Norway – Through Centuries and Borders and its unique catalogue. Cooperation with the Institute of History and Religion of the University of Tromse and the Institute of Defense Studies in Oslo is hard to overestimate. Thirdly, I want to recall the conference on Afghanistan organized by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in which Russians, Norwegians, and Americans participated. They all lay a solid basis for future Russian-Norwegian cooperation which forms a major part of our cooperation with countries of Northern Europe.

 

Academician

Alexander Chubaryan