THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CRIMEAN BRIDGE FOR RUSSIA: A POWER TOOL WITH STRATEGIC, LEGAL, AND SYMBOLIC VALUE
Journal: Calhoun: The Naval Postgraduate School Institutional Archive (Naval Postgraduate School)
Year: 2020

Many observers have concentrated on the territorial consequences of Crimea’s annexation in 2014. The Kerch Strait incident in November 2018 made salient the existence of a maritime dimension to this conflict. In addition, it brought into focus the longest bridge in Europe, linking Crimea to the Russian mainland. This thesis analyzes the benefit of the Crimean Bridge for Russia in three domains. First, the bridge permits Russia to further secure its strategic hold on Crimea and to exert continuou