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Description
The undertaking of this project was determined by the need of new research of Russia’s policy in the Black Sea under the circumstances of the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and of new military, political and economic strategies promoted by Moscow in the last years. Romania, as a country neighbouring the Black Sea, is directly interested in research on Russia’s geopolitics in the region, especially since the two countries share a common history in the last two centuries. Also, this project consists of the need to train a new generation of specialists in Russian relations, as there is no university-level school of this kind in Romania.
There are multiple similarities between Russia’s policy in the Black Sea and in the Arctic Ocean, making them suitable for a comparative study: the exploitation of petroleum and gas reserves from the continental shelves, the claiming of a larger surface of the continental shelf by Russia in the Arctic Ocean and in the Black Sea, Russian investments, Russian propaganda, the position of NATO states, of which Romania and Norway are part of, in regards to Russia’s military strategy and its aggressiveness etc.
The project’s objectives are: (1.) Accomplishing a comparative interdisciplinary research on Russia’s geopolitics in the Black Sea; (2.) The formation and development of a human research resource at the University of Bucharest for the study of Russia’s geopolitics in the Black Sea through 3 doctoral scholarships and 14 post-doctoral scholarships; (3.) The creation of a documentary base for research on Russia’s geopolitics in the Black Sea which consists in one online database with the literature on the topic and one specialized library managed by a new founded research centre at the University of Bucharest. The most important results of the project will be the research performed by the project team, formed of researchers of the University of Bucharest and of the Norwegian partner.