Russia Maritime Studies Institute

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.

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.

On January 12th, the college convened a group of nuclear stability and regional experts in Newport, Rhode Island for an unclassified discussion of the incentives U.S. adversaries might have for nuclear first use. Our aim was to identify the most probable and most dangerous pathways as well as the impetus for nuclear use. Based on these pathways, we generated a series of policy recommendations for the U.S. national security community and the U.S. Navy.

Nuclear Stability with Russia and North Korea Workshop Write-Up

The Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Field of Naval Operations for the Period Until 2030 reflects the Russian Federal Navy’s (RFN) improved capabilities, its evolving strategic and operational role, and its future ambitions. Signed on July 20, 2017 by President Vladimir Putin, it provides a series of guideposts for understanding the RFN’s future, as well as broader insight into how Moscow approaches issues of national and international security.

The Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the Field of Naval Operations for the Period Until 2030

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.

2015 Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation

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.

Russian-Syrian Naval and Air Basing Agreements, 2015 – 2017