The Bering Strait Crossing: A 21st Century Frontier between East and WestThe Bering Strait Crossing is the epic story of the Intercontinental Divide. The ancient waterway - when the fog clears over the Diomede Islands - is among the world’s most stunning vistas. This is where the 53-mile wide strait, named for Danish explorer Vitus Bering (1681-1741), separates four continents across the Europe-Asia landmass and the Americas. Extremes of climate, isolation, and geopolitical tension have all interfaced to create the perception of a frozen limbo at the edge of the world. Yet the Bering Strait is the world’s geographical crossroads - linking East with West - for nowhere else on the globe is it possible to cross the Pacific Rim between Asia and the Americas. In the modern era, various schemes have been proposed - rail, ferry, tunnel - by which to cross the strait. Since the end of the Cold War, a scheduled air service has been in place. The strait remains undefeated in terms of a terrestrial link between the USA and Russia - so far. The author uncovers a world-shaping revelation: that the Bering Strait has the potential to become a global shipping nexus via the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route between Europe, North America, and Asia. The self-induced amnesia of the long Cold War years is yielding to a fresh outlook between East and West across the strait. In a world thirsty for energy resources and trade, the prospect for US-Russian cooperation across the northern Pacific Rim is tantalising in its multiplicity - and vastness - with profound implications for the global economy. In this twenty first century, the Beringia corridors (N-S, E-W) have the potential to unite the world. |
From inside the book
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... ( The 22nd century - if the demographers are correct - is , though , destined to be a quieter place . ) At present , however , pan - Pacific transport corridors and systems ( inter - modal trans - shipment THE BERING STRAIT CROSSING 15.
... transport systems : air , rail , sea , road ( and pipeline ) - and the information super - highway . There is not much talk about tunnels and bridges in these pages ( or that half - way house , a submerged causeway ) , which would only ...
... transport across the strait continue to evolve . As these words find their way onto this page for the first time , the Vladivostok News reports : " Chukotka and Alaska sign visa - free agreement " . In the era of Dr Strangelove , not so ...
... transport, dangerous even to possess. The illiterate Dezhnev's oral deposition revealed all of this, and more, which was transcribed, filed with the dank Yakutsk archives, and then, for a long time after, forgotten. Russian researchers ...
... transport : sailing boats , or koches , which , though more suited to river navigation than open sea , were not the primitive vessels as hitherto thought . As such , the depiction included in a dramatic commemorative stamp ( see Fig.1 ...
Contents
11 | |
19 | |
31 | |
40 | |
A Footnote to Gvozdev | 55 |
Captain Cooks Third Voyage | 61 |
Beyond the Two Islands Return to the Sandwich Islands | 73 |
W H Seward has his Way | 89 |
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The Bering Strait Crossing: A 21st Century Frontier between East and West James A. Oliver Limited preview - 2006 |