Murmansk Initiative

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The Murmansk Initiative (/mərmænsk ɪˈnɪʃətɪvz/; Russian: Мурманские инициати́вы, Russian pronunciation: [/Мурманские/ ɪnʲɪt͡sᵻɐtʲˈivᵻ]^{[clarification needed]}) was a series of wide-range foreign policy proposals concerning the Arctic region made in a speech by the Secretary-General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union - Mikhail Gorbachev - on October 1, 1987 in Murmansk, Soviet Union, considered to be a trademark of his foreign policy.^[1]

The initiative tied together economic, environmental, and security issues in the Arctic.^[2] Gorbachev's aim was to transform the Arctic Circle from being a military theater to an international zone of peace among the Arctic powers. The initiative was launched as an invitation for disarmament of nuclear weapons and establishment of an East-West dialogue around the Arctic.^[3]

The Murmansk speech's goals paralleled Gorbachev's ambitions in previous speeches, like the one in Vladivostok (July, 1986) dealing with Asia-Pacific relations and a later speech in Belgrade (March, 1988) dealing with problems pertaining to security in the Mediterranean Region.^[4]

The Murmansk Initiative was considered a major turning point in the Arctic policy of the Soviet Union (USSR) and represented the application of Gorbachev's "new political thinking" in Northern Europe.^[2] It helped guide the foreign policy of the newly-formed Russian government in the Arctic after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.