https://sputniknews.in/20251022/tunnel-from-russia-to-alaska-brave-new-world-is-coming---again-9954060.html
Tunnel From Russia to Alaska: Brave New World Is Coming - Again
Tunnel From Russia to Alaska: Brave New World Is Coming - Again
Sputnik India
What makes the world go round? First come the dreamers, then cold mathematical minds take over, and finally the world changes its shape – that’s how it works... 22.10.2025, Sputnik India
2025-10-22T15:00+0530
2025-10-22T15:00+0530
2025-10-22T15:00+0530
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And here is a fresh example: linking Eurasia and America with an underwater tunnel from the tip of Russia to the tip of US sounds absolutely crazy, but that idea crops up again (and again), and every time it’s becoming more and more feasible from a purely technical point of view.After all, what is 8 billion US dollars and 8 years’ work, if that effort changes the future of the whole American continent, makes Asian logistics routes cheaper and improves all kind of prospects of all of the Far East landmass, for starters? And if that project is capable of changing drastically the shape of global business, even its discussion in itself is a good glimpse of the brave new world that, theoretically, is possible.The idea of a firm ground link across the Bering Straits between Russia and America has originally been suggested in late 19thcentury, and even then it was not technically impossible. Today, when a phantom of the tunnel has become a serious part of the Russo-American diplomatic game, you may find all kind of details on how the same idea has been taking a clearer shape in the past, distant or recent one.The concept of linking physically the Russian Federation with US of A, so as to develop several grand commercial projects after that, have been figuring at the Alaska summit of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in August. To remind, that summit was by far not only about peace in Eastern Europe. It was generally about making Russia and America partners where it’s possible, with all these European military rumbles being an annoying impediment for the coming of the mentioned brave new world.You may expect that tunnel idea to crop up again soon, now when a new Russo-American summit in Budapest, Hungary, entered the stage of preparations. And, naturally, even now we hear the verbal shots fired from those who promote the idea, and those who are taken aback by it.“The other America”, that is, America of democrats, globalists and all such, is usually been well represented by writers of the Bloomberg agency. So it has recently published yet another short piece, claiming that the tunnel idea is a Russian bait, dangling before the eyes of the unwary American leader.What we get from Bloomberg is, that we are dealing here with a suspicious communication line below presidential level. That’s a line between Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive officer of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, and the great technical visionary Elon Musk, while the two presidents may not even know all the details of their discussion.Bloomberg quotes a (probably) British lady, Emily Ferris, a senior fellow at RUSI (Royal United Strategic Institute), who studies Russian transport infrastructure. “The question is who would even use it”, she fumes, claiming that it’s impossible to get up to these cold places in the first place, since we are talking about an area, that is mostly deserted, not connected well to any other parts of the Far East.Finally, the agency is not optimistic about the Musk technologies, allowing us to drill cheaper today. It says that the Boring Co., Musk’s drilling venture, is a $900 million flop.While the flow of Russian information on the project is a bit more detailed and vastly more optimistic. We, here in Russia, seem to have quite a dossier on lots of American projects to link our two nations, starting from the mentioned 19th century. Among them is a stack of American ideas dating back to 1950-s and 1960-s, with pictures. You can see it on this Russian website, with English maps quite readable.More, there was an absolutely serious start of paperwork on the same project in Russia, in 1990-s. I remember myself participating in one of the discussions, headed by a venerable Academician Alexander Granberg and linked with a group of American colleagues. That discussion has shown that a 100-kilometer underwater tunnel was not a technical problem at all even then, when there were no Elon Musk’s futuristic drilling technologies. After all, many such projects gave been successfully completed in recent decades, the English Channel being only the most famous one.So, now the talk is mostly about the commercial and\or political implications of that grand idea. And what we see here is a question of supply routes for global economy of the coming decades, and also the purely diplomatic issue of discussing the Russo-US link simultaneously with peace talks on Ukraine.First of all, that’s not just about Russia and the US, says Mr. Timophei Bordachev of the Valdai discussion club (I really love quoting that man). It’salso about China. Needless to say, no one in Russia will even think of disengaging with China so as to engage with the US. There are many reasons for that, and logistics, the Bering tunnel included, shows it well. China is producing more and more of expensive goods today, says Bordachev, so the costs of deliveries of such goods by sea or by land is getting more and more important. With every China’s step up the value ladder it will be more important to deliver such goods faster and cheaper. The Bering tunnel will make a huge difference in that regard, just as the Arctic sea route beats the Suez one with hands down. And Russia may only be a part of it.Land-linking Asia with America means a lot for the future of the US and Canada, Bordachev goes on, but it sidelines Europe to the remote edge of the world, making it even less important than it is now, he adds. And that will be the conclusion of a process, started in late 19th century, when the US began to gain in importance, while Europe slowly slipped into a secondary position.Being neither a technical, nor a logistic expert, I may add to that a couple of ideas on the obvious significance of that tunnel discussion as it is today. First, it’d be wise to watch Mr. Kirill Dmitriev’s progress as a man, very instrumental in the current global diplomacy. While the presidents are trying hard to end wars, people like Dmitriev are about the benefits of peace. So let’s hope his line of work will gain in prominence together with Mr. Dmitriev himself.Second, if you follow the never ending global discussions about trade routes, then you have a chance to imagine the ever-changing shape of the world to come. You may remember the ideas that gave birth to the East India Company in England, or the fate and implications of the emergence of Suez and Panama Canals. All of these projects were long in discussion, all of them seemed to be crazy at the start. But even the very fact of discussion around these ideas proved to be a fact of development of our civilization.Dmitry Kosyrev is a Russian writer, author of spy novels and short stories. He also did columns for the Pioneer and Firstpost.com
https://sputniknews.in/20251022/trump-says-will-be-notifying-about-meeting-with-putin-within-next-two-days-9951585.html
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Tunnel From Russia to Alaska: Brave New World Is Coming - Again
What makes the world go round? First come the dreamers, then cold mathematical minds take over, and finally the world changes its shape – that’s how it works in some cases, at least.
And here is a fresh example: linking Eurasia and America with an underwater tunnel from the tip of Russia to the tip of US sounds absolutely crazy, but that idea crops up again (and again), and every time it’s becoming more and more feasible from a purely technical point of view.
After all, what is 8 billion US dollars and 8 years’ work, if that effort changes the future of the whole American continent, makes Asian logistics routes cheaper and improves all kind of prospects of all of the Far East landmass, for starters? And if that project is capable of changing drastically the shape of global business, even its discussion in itself is a good glimpse of the brave new world that, theoretically, is possible.
The idea of a firm ground link across the Bering Straits between Russia and America has originally been suggested in late 19thcentury, and even then it was not technically impossible. Today, when a phantom of the tunnel has become a serious part of the Russo-American diplomatic game, you may find all kind of details on how the same idea has been taking a clearer shape in the past, distant or recent one.
The concept of linking physically the Russian Federation with US of A, so as to develop several grand commercial projects after that, have been figuring at the Alaska summit of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in August. To remind, that summit was by far not only about peace in Eastern Europe. It was generally about making Russia and America partners where it’s possible, with all these European military rumbles being an annoying impediment for the coming of the mentioned brave new world.
You may expect that tunnel idea to crop up again soon, now when a new Russo-American summit in Budapest, Hungary, entered the stage of preparations. And, naturally, even now we hear the verbal shots fired from those who promote the idea, and those who are taken aback by it.
“The other America”, that is, America of democrats, globalists and all such, is usually been well represented by writers of the Bloomberg agency. So it has recently
published yet another short piece, claiming that the tunnel idea is a Russian bait, dangling before the eyes of the unwary American leader.
What we get from Bloomberg is, that we are dealing here with a suspicious communication line below presidential level. That’s a line between Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive officer of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, and the great technical visionary Elon Musk, while the two presidents may not even know all the details of their discussion.
Bloomberg quotes a (probably) British lady, Emily Ferris, a senior fellow at RUSI (Royal United Strategic Institute), who studies Russian transport infrastructure. “The question is who would even use it”, she fumes, claiming that it’s impossible to get up to these cold places in the first place, since we are talking about an area, that is mostly deserted, not connected well to any other parts of the Far East.
Finally, the agency is not optimistic about the Musk technologies, allowing us to drill cheaper today. It says that the
Boring Co., Musk’s drilling venture, is a $900 million flop.
While the flow of Russian information on the project is a bit more detailed and vastly more optimistic. We, here in Russia, seem to have quite a dossier on lots of American projects to link our two nations, starting from the mentioned 19th century. Among them is a stack of American ideas dating back to 1950-s and 1960-s, with pictures.
You can see it on this Russian website, with English maps quite readable.
More, there was an absolutely serious start of paperwork on the same project in Russia, in 1990-s. I remember myself participating in one of the discussions, headed by a venerable Academician Alexander Granberg and linked with a group of American colleagues. That discussion has shown that a 100-kilometer underwater tunnel was not a technical problem at all even then, when there were no Elon Musk’s futuristic drilling technologies. After all, many such projects gave been successfully completed in recent decades, the English Channel being only the most famous one.
So, now the talk is mostly about the commercial and\or political implications of that grand idea. And what we see here is a question of supply routes for global economy of the coming decades, and also the purely diplomatic issue of discussing the Russo-US link simultaneously with peace talks on Ukraine.
First of all, that’s not just about Russia and the US, says Mr. Timophei Bordachev of the Valdai discussion club (I really love quoting that man). It’salso about China. Needless to say, no one in Russia will even think of disengaging with China so as to engage with the US. There are many reasons for that, and logistics, the Bering tunnel included, shows it well. China is producing more and more of expensive goods today, says Bordachev, so the costs of deliveries of such goods by sea or by land is getting more and more important. With every China’s step up the value ladder it will be more important to deliver such goods faster and cheaper. The Bering tunnel will make a huge difference in that regard, just as the Arctic sea route beats the Suez one with hands down. And Russia may only be a part of it.
Land-linking Asia with America means a lot for the future of the US and Canada, Bordachev goes on, but it sidelines Europe to the remote edge of the world, making it even less important than it is now, he adds. And that will be the conclusion of a process, started in late 19th century, when the US began to gain in importance, while Europe slowly slipped into a secondary position.
Being neither a technical, nor a logistic expert, I may add to that a couple of ideas on the obvious significance of that tunnel discussion as it is today. First, it’d be wise to watch Mr. Kirill Dmitriev’s progress as a man, very instrumental in the current global diplomacy. While the presidents are trying hard to end wars, people like Dmitriev are about the benefits of peace. So let’s hope his line of work will gain in prominence together with Mr. Dmitriev himself.
Second, if you follow the never ending global discussions about trade routes, then you have a chance to imagine the ever-changing shape of the world to come. You may remember the ideas that gave birth to the East India Company in England, or the fate and implications of the emergence of Suez and Panama Canals. All of these projects were long in discussion, all of them seemed to be crazy at the start. But even the very fact of discussion around these ideas proved to be a fact of development of our civilization.
Dmitry Kosyrev is a Russian writer, author of spy novels and short stories. He also did columns for the Pioneer and Firstpost.com
