In part
1 of this research essay we discussed how geography, irredentism, and patrimonialism
may elucidate Russia’s aggressive behavior in Eastern Europe-2 (Belarus,
Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine).
The political asymmetry in the Black Sea, where the maritime
NATO has been present while continental Russia is almost absent, has been the
important geostrategic rationale behind Russia’s military power projection in
Transnistria (Moldova), Abkhazia and South Ossetia (Georgia), and Crimea and
eastern Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (Ukraine).
Similar political asymmetry takes place in the Baltic Sea.
To break this asymmetry, Russia keeps and expands its military presence in the
Kaliningrad exclave and in landlocked Belarus. And here is what might happen in
the future. Following a missile barrage, Russian troops from Kaliningrad advance
towards Belarus through the Suwalki Gap and cut the Baltic States off from the
rest of the NATO countries. As a result, the landward hegemon Russia receives land
access to its Baltic Sea exclave and the Baltic States turn into NATO’s
exclave!
Abstract: In this paper, we explore how a counter-mapping framework can contribute to developing a freely accessible worldwide geographic information (GI) service for Russia, a country with a legacy of classified (closed and semi-closed) information systems. The Russian Federation Digital Data (RFDD) project and the Central Eurasian Interactive Atlas (CEIA) were the major products of these efforts. This article describes the volunteered geographic information (VGI) methods which were used to create these products. We portray how in 1994-2004 volunteers and paid part-time citizen science at the University of Washington and its consortial partners (the Evergreen State College and South Seattle Community College) obtained geographic data from Russia, developed GIS databases in the United States using appropriate hardware and software, assured the quality of these data and created a clearinghouse and geoportal for delivery and use of the dataset. A focus on error detection to improve data quality was crucial for this project. The consortium was organized in 2000 to promote the creation of a GIS database on Russia and dissemination and use of these datasets using the Web. Unfortunately, the project has failed to publish the dataset beyond the Universities’ Consortium. CEIA is for limited use and serves as a curricular and research focus of Russian Studies programs in the Universities’ Consortium.
Keywords: Central Eurasian Interactive Atlas (CEIA), Clearinghouse, Counter-mapping, Data quality, Database, Geographic information (GI), Geographic information service, Geoportal, Russia, National spatial data infrastructure (NSDI), Russian Federation Digital Data (RFDD), Data quality, Universities’ Consortium Geographic Information Service (UC GI Service), Volunteered geographic information (VGI).
We acknowledge support for portions of this article provided by U.S. Department of Education Title VI Program for Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information Access (TICFIA) Award Number P337A990006-01, the Suzzallo Libraries at the University of Washington, and the IFS Family Foundation. We are thankful to Michael Goodchild, Nicholas Chrisman, Massimo Craglia, and Ellen O’Meara for valuable suggestions on earlier drafts of this paper. Continue reading Acquisition, Processing and Use of Russia’s Raion/Municipality-level Spatial Data: Counter-mapping for Russia in Seattle, 2000-2004→
