About Russia Maritime Studies Institute
At sea, Russia is asserting itself in regions that it considers strategically vital, including the Black Sea, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Baltic Sea, and in the Arctic, while its improving nuclear missile submarine force once again presents the United States and NATO nations with a significant challenge. The mission of the Russia Maritime Studies Institute (RMSI) is to conduct research into these maritime issues on behalf of the U.S. Navy and NATO partners. In consultation with appropriate U.S. Navy elements such as U.S. Naval Forces Europe (NAVEUR); Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT), 6th Fleet, 7th Fleet, and others, it develops and executes a broad research agenda and then disseminates finished research to Navy leadership and the fleet.
Goals for RMSI
Click to Open The goals for this institute are to:
- Inform Navy, Fleet, Joint Force, and NATO decision making with regard to Russian maritime issues.
- Provide analysis to support U.S. planning and engagement efforts.
- Educate U.S. Navy personnel on Russian maritime issues.
- Develop new knowledge that contributes to scholarship and a deeper understanding of the issue associated with Russia from both a theater and global perspective.
To achieve these goals, RMSI conducts research into a wide variety of issues, including naval policy, strategy, and operations; maritime technologies; shipbuilding; maritime law; deterrence; and naval diplomacy.
More on RMSI
Click to Open Furthermore, taking advantage of the intellectual capital of the region affords RMSI the opportunity to develop deep intellectual synergies. Based at the U.S. Naval War College (NWC) in Newport, Rhode Island, RMSI resides at the nexus of academia, policy and operational communities. NWC contributes broad, multi-dimensional research, analysis, and gaming competencies fused with significant linguistic and technical capabilities, built on the experiences of more than 100 years of pioneering strategic thinking about maritime issues, opportunities, and challenges.
Building upon this capability, location, and experience, RMSI continues seeking collaborative partnerships with government research centers, civilian academic institutions, and other organizations. Together, these collaborative efforts will continue to enable RMSI to conduct detailed research on Russia’s maritime development and inform senior level decisions.
Recent RMSI Research
2022: Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation
Click to Open The 2022 Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation was approved by President Vladimir Putin on July 31, 2022. It supersedes the previous 2015 Maritime Doctrine. The 2022 document expands and sharpens many of the themes resident in the earlier document, including the need to secure and protect critical resources at sea, expand Russia’s maritime presence in global trade, and develop infrastructure that supports this growth. It also contains new information, such as Russia’s broader approach to piracy, international cooperation, and mobilization readiness.
Read the Doctrine
2020: Strategy for the Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation
Click to Open Russia’s October 2020 Strategy for Development of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation and Provision of National Security for the Period up to 2035 is the implementation document for the previously published Foundations of the Russian Federation State Policy in the Arctic for the Period up to 2035, which was published the previous March. The Arctic Strategy provides details for the broader concepts and ideas laid out in the Foundations, as well as timelines and expected implementation results for the various measures it outlines. It is structured in a classic ends-ways-means approach, describing the ways and means by which Moscow will achieve the ends defined in the Arctic Foundations.
Read the Strategy
2019: Strategy for the Development of Maritime Activities of the Russian Federation
Click to Open Russia is taking a systematic approach to developing its presence in the maritime domain. Three documents published by Moscow since 2015 provide the roadmap for Russia’s global maritime ambitions. These are the Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation (2015), the Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Field of Naval Operations to 2030 (2017), and this document, the 2019 Strategy for the Development of Russia’s Maritime Activities to 2030. The Maritime Doctrine and the Naval Fundamentals articulate high-level policy objectives and provide a set of ways and means for achieving those objectives. In contrast, the Strategy focuses on implementation challenges as well as ways to determine measures of effectiveness in achieving the ends stated by its predecessor documents.
Read the Strategy
2015: Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation
Click to Open The 2015 Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation is arguably one of the most important doctrinal statements to emerge from that country in recent years. It is in any case Russia’s most important recent articulation of its maritime interests and goals, and therefore provides insight into how Moscow envisions Russia’s global role. Yet because of the challenges of reading Russian and the absence of a publicly available translation of this essential document, western understanding of it is largely limited.
Read the 2015 Maritime Doctrine
2015-2020: Russian-Syrian Naval and Air Basing Agreements, 2015-2000
Click to Open Since Moscow’s formal intervention in the Syrian conflict in September 2015, the Russian Federation and the Syrian Arab Republic have concluded a 49-year lease for the use and expansion of the naval base at Tartus, and a separate agreement on stationing the Russian "aviation group" at Humaymim airfield in Syria. These agreements build off longstanding Russian-Syrian ties, treaties, and cooperation agreements, and form the legal basis for Russia’s long-term presence in Syria. Further, the agreements denote the rights and protections Russian military members and contractors enjoy in Syria.
Read about the Basing Agreements
See Russia Maritime Studies Institute Faculty
Our experienced and renowned faculty have years of earned expertise across a wide range of naval and educational topics. To learn more, please use the link below to access the online directory.
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