InterBering Research Encyclopedia

Pyotr Mikhailovich Borisov was a Soviet engineer and a Stalin Prize laureate. After graduating from the Moscow Mining Institute, he went to work on the harsh North Pacific island of Sakhalin. Following a long career as a senior engineer, and already retired, he joined the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences, driven by a single overarching goal: to provide a rigorous scientific and geographic foundation for the central project of his life—one aimed at fundamentally improving the climate of the Northern Hemisphere.

An eminent scholar of Alaska and polar history, he served as professor of history and Arctic and Northern Studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1983 and joined the UAF faculty in 1988, becoming a full professor in 1998. A founding instructor in the university’s Northern Studies graduate program, he was widely known for his dynamic and engaging lectures, reaching audiences from classrooms to public broadcasting. A dedicated supporter of UAF, he also contributed actively to scholarship initiatives and was honored with the Edith Bullock Award for Excellence in 1998.

In his historical essay tracing the evolution of the Bering Strait bridge concept—from Ice Age migrations across the ancient land bridge to modern engineering visions of reconnecting Alaska and Siberia—Terrence Cole helped revive and frame the modern discussion about the possible construction of a Bering Strait connection between the United States and Russia. His work inspired subsequent generations of researchers and writers, many of whom expanded upon his historical perspective in their own publications over the following three decades, incorporating contemporary technical and engineering analyses of how such a railway crossing might be realized.

Louis T. Cerny served as Executive Director of the American Railway Engineering Association (AREA) and was widely recognized as a leading authority in railway infrastructure engineering in the United States. With decades of experience in track design, tunneling systems, and rail standards development, he played a prominent role in advancing technical dialogue on large-scale rail projects, including intercontinental connections.

In his address, “No Technical Limits to the Bering Strait Project,” Cerny argued that there were no insurmountable engineering or geological barriers to constructing a railway tunnel beneath the Bering Strait. Drawing on contemporary examples such as the Channel Tunnel and Japan’s Seikan Tunnel, he maintained that modern tunneling methods, stable geological formations, and established railway technologies made the project technically feasible. He emphasized that the principal obstacles were not technical, but organizational, financial, and political. In Cerny’s view, a fixed rail link between Asia and North America represented a strategically significant infrastructure undertaking comparable in scale and vision to the Transcontinental Railroad or the Panama Canal.

Ronald R. Kotas, theoretical Scientist, Grand Quantum Research. In “The Linking of Two Great Continents by Rail Tunnel Connections Under the Bering Strait,” Kotas argues for a dual, electrified tunnel system connecting Wales, Alaska and Naukan, Russia, meeting beneath the Diomede Islands. He outlines gentle grades, modern tunnel engineering, and a through-rail corridor linking Alaska and Siberia to wider North American and Eurasian networks, framing the project as a long-term trade and cooperation link.

Kotas strongly supported the vision expressed by former Alaska Governor Walter Hickel, who, speaking at the United Nations Headquarters on September 22, 1994, asked: “Why war? Why not big projects?” Hickel envisioned a rail tunnel beneath the Bering Sea linking New York through Alaska to the Trans-Siberian Railway and onward to Paris — a corridor carrying commerce, ideas, and cooperation across continents.

Echoing Hickel’s belief that “the solution to our social problems is not money, it is productive work,” Kotas framed the Bering Strait tunnel as a peace-building infrastructure project grounded in economic development rather than conflict.

The Bering Strait Crossing is a comprehensive examination of the Bering Strait as a geopolitical, cultural, and logistical crossroads between East and West. Oliver’s book explores the region’s historical context, the vision of a fixed link between Eurasia and North America, and the engineering concepts proposed over the past century—including tunnels, causeways, ferries, rail links, and transcontinental transport corridors. Centered on the 53–mile–wide strait named for Danish explorer Vitus Bering (1681–1741), the narrative portrays this ancient waterway—where fog drifts across the Diomede Islands—as one of the world’s most striking geographical frontiers.

Long shaped by isolation, extreme climate, and geopolitical tension, the region has often been perceived as a frozen limbo at the edge of the world. Yet it is, in fact, the globe’s most direct overland meeting point between Asia and the Americas—a place where East and West nearly touch. In the modern era, numerous proposals have sought to span the strait—by rail, ferry, or tunnel—while scheduled air service has linked the continents since the end of the Cold War. The absence of a permanent terrestrial connection between the United States and Russia remains one of the great unfinished chapters of modern infrastructure.

Oliver argues that the Bering Strait holds the potential to become a global shipping nexus, integrating the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route into a broader system linking Europe, North America, and Asia. In a world increasingly driven by trade and energy demand, renewed U.S.–Russian cooperation across the northern Pacific Rim carries profound economic implications. Blending geography, exploration, and international relations, the author revives a story that spans centuries—from Pliny and Mercator to Dezhnev, Vitus Bering, Shelikhov, Captain Cook, William Gilpin, and Roald Amundsen—and presents it as both a historical saga and an unfolding 21st–century frontier.

Born June 7, 1960 (Smolensk Region), Razbegin graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University and built his career at the N. M. Gersevanov Research Institute of Foundations and Underground Structures. A recognized expert in permafrost and geotechnical engineering, he became one of Russia’s key scientific figures involved in the Bering Strait Tunnel initiative.

In 1992 he was appointed Director of the Russian Branch of the International Consortium “Transcontinental” (IBSTRG), established to advance scientific and organizational work on the Intercontinental Railway and Tunnel under the Bering Strait. Under his leadership, technical studies addressed soil stability, Arctic conditions, and large-scale transport integration between Eurasia and North America.

Razbegin has served as Editor-in-Chief of Foundations, Bases and Soil Mechanics, Director of the Interdepartmental Center for Integrated Regional Transport Projects (SOPS), and member of the Joint Scientific Council of Russian Railways (RZD), reinforcing his role in national-level infrastructure planning.

Dr. Hal Cooper (February 19, 1940 — born in Ames, Iowa) was a visionary who always insisted on describing himself as “practical.” Trained as an engineer and holding a doctorate in chemical engineering, he worked across virtually every major sector of the productive economy — oil, coal, gas, timber, paper, water, and transportation — with a lifelong focus on rail as a driver of development.

Raised in New Jersey and California (attending high school in Pasadena), Cooper studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Washington. He later taught as a professor at Texas A&M University (College Station) and the University of Texas at Austin. His professional work also included a year at Los Alamos National Laboratory and consulting in Kirkland, Washington, including involvement with the Hanford Project.

In the early 1990s, while attending a world transportation conference in London, Cooper met an associate of Lyndon and Helga LaRouche — beginning a decades-long collaboration dedicated to large-scale infrastructure as the backbone of worldwide economic development. His maps and blueprints helped shape landmark LaRouche movement publications, including the 1997 EIR Special Report The Eurasian Land-Bridge: The “New Silk Road”—Locomotive for Worldwide Economic Development. Many of the priority corridors he advocated later aligned with routes advanced under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, first announced in 2013.

Over the next quarter century, Cooper expanded these concepts into detailed development corridors and feasibility studies — championing grand projects such as the Bering Strait Tunnel, NAWAPA (North American Water and Power Alliance), and the Transaqua initiative in Africa. He spoke internationally, including a 2002 address in Novosibirsk on continental rail-grid integration, and he traveled widely to study routes firsthand — from Alaska and Canada to Central and South America (including proposals for a cross-isthmus canal and rail link through the Darién Gap), as well as rail and water-power programs across Africa.

Cooper believed people should be able to see the future. To that end, he commissioned concept artworks for key corridors — notably working with artist J. Craig Thorpe of Bellevue, Washington — and presented an artistic rendition of the Bering Strait Tunnel to Helga Zepp-LaRouche at a Schiller Institute conference in Kiedrich, Germany, in September 2007. His hand-drawn route overlays of rail, energy, and related infrastructure helped popularize the idea of a connected world development grid and continue to circulate widely.

Intensely engaged in infrastructure policy debates yet above partisan labels, Cooper worked with networks across party lines wherever he found commitment to long-term progress. He left behind a vast library of reports, maps, and feasibility studies dedicated to one central idea: that great projects can replace geopolitics with cooperation — and create a more productive future for nations and for humanity.

Craig Edward Burroughs was an American rail executive and transportation strategist whose career combined railroad operations, finance, and project advocacy. After early work at Union Pacific Railroad (Freight Accounting, Omaha), he earned a B.S. in Industrial Administration from Iowa State University (1965) and later completed an MBA in Transportation and Finance at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Burroughs worked for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad in Chicago and went on to devote much of his professional life to improving and sustaining short line railroads in the Midwest and South—bringing together operational realities with financing, restructuring, and long-term market positioning.

In later years, he expanded his focus to intercontinental rail connectivity. As Chairman and CEO of Northern Inter-Continental Enterprises, Burroughs promoted the concept of linking the Alaska Railroad to the broader North American rail system as part of a future fixed connection between Asia and North America at the Bering Strait. He emphasized practical pathways for public–private coordination, corridor development, and the integration of rail infrastructure into a larger logistics network.

Burroughs was especially focused on the real-world obstacles to a Bering Strait megaproject—engineering feasibility, finance, and the governmental frameworks needed for a durable international partnership behind what would be the world’s longest transportation tunnel.

Dr. Mark P. Barry is Director of Research at My College Advisor Pro and a Senior Fellow for Public Policy with the Summit Council for World Peace in Washington, D.C. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia (1996) and has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in international politics, international business, leadership, management, and intercultural communication at institutions in the New York metropolitan area.

Dr. Barry has also held senior roles in Washington, D.C.-based policy organizations and served as a legislative analyst drafting and evaluating bills on workforce development, community colleges, and vocational training. His policy expertise spans multinational cooperation, infrastructure strategy, and public-private engagement.

His paper on Advancing the Bering Strait Tunnel Project in the United States and Canada examines practical avenues for building momentum behind an intercontinental rail tunnel linking Alaska, Canada, and Russia. Dr. Barry's work explores how federal, provincial/state, and local governments, as well as business and non-governmental communities, might support staged development of rail infrastructure that could eventually culminate in a Bering Strait crossing. His analysis emphasizes the need for strategic promotion, coalition building, and policy framing that situates an Alaska-Canada rail link as a foundational first stage toward realizing a broader transcontinental tunnel connection — one with implications for trade, regional development, and geopolitical cooperation between North America and Eurasia.

Dr. Barry's work contributes to longer-term thinking about how infrastructure projects of continental scale can be advanced through coordinated policy effort and public engagement, moving beyond conceptual maps toward tangible planning pathways.

Norman Stadem, M.A. (Economics), is an Alaskan economist and regional development researcher who formerly served as Resource Conservation and Development Coordinator with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. His professional work focused on aligning natural resource stewardship with long‑term economic sustainability in rural communities.

In his study “Our Present — Our Future: Northwest Alaska — Prosperity Opportunity,” Stadem examines the persistent high cost of living in Alaska’s off‑road villages and proposes transportation‑based solutions to improve regional economic efficiency. Evaluating earlier canal and haul‑road proposals along the Yukon‑Kuskokwim corridor, he concludes that only a multimodal rail system linking Alaska to continental and global networks can meaningfully reduce freight costs and stimulate durable growth.

Stadem situates Northwest Alaska’s challenges within a broader Arctic transformation, referencing large‑scale Eurasian rail initiatives and the proposed Bering Strait tunnel. Drawing on the concept of an economic analog to the ancient Bering Land Bridge, he argues that a trans‑Bering rail connection would serve as a modern counterpart to prehistoric intercontinental connectivity — integrating logistics, energy, and commerce while advancing Alaska’s long‑term prosperity.

Vladimir Petrovsky, Ph.D. (Political Science), is a Russian scholar and policy analyst affiliated with the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is a Full Member of the Russian Academy of Military Sciences and has held numerous academic and diplomatic positions in the fields of international relations, Asian studies, and strategic policy.

Dr. Petrovsky previously served as Professor at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at the Higher School of Economics, Professor at the Faculty of Public Administration of Moscow State University, Academic Secretary for Public and Media Relations at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies (RAS), and Chairman of the Executive Board of the Russian Political Science Association. His professional career has also included senior advisory roles with the Asian Economic Cooperation Foundation (AECF), membership in the International Institute for Strategic Studies (2003–2005), editorial positions with Diplomatic Service, International Journal of Asian Economics, and International Journal on World Peace, as well as work as Producer and News Editor for the BBC Russian Service (Moscow Bureau). From 2005–2010, he served as President of the Russian National Peace Council.

In his analytical study on the Bering Strait Project, Dr. Petrovsky presents a comprehensive Russian academic and strategic perspective on constructing a trans–continental railway and undersea tunnel linking Russia and North America. He traces the institutional origins of the project within the Council for the Study of Productive Forces and allied scientific bodies, outlining geographic feasibility, projected cargo and energy flows, and the long–term development potential for Siberia and the Russian Far East.

Addressing technical, climatic, and financial critiques, Petrovsky evaluates concerns regarding infrastructure gaps and economic viability while proposing coordinated international planning and phased development strategies. His work frames the Bering Strait connection not merely as an engineering undertaking, but as a strategic instrument for Eurasian–North American cooperation, regional integration, and expanded global trade networks.

Paul Metz is affiliated with the Department of Mining and Geological Engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. His academic and applied work focuses on geotechnical engineering, exploration geophysics, and geochemistry, including mineral economic modeling of Alaska resource lands.

In collaboration with Mark Taylor, P.E., Metz contributed to the Alaska–Canada Rail Link Project (ACRLP), advancing an incremental expansion strategy in which discrete rail segments can operate independently while supporting long–term transcontinental connectivity. The project prioritizes corridors that improve access to tidewater ports and major mineral, timber, and energy regions in Alaska, Yukon, and northwestern British Columbia.

Building upon the framework established under the Rails to Resources Act (2000), which funded a joint U.S.–Canada feasibility study, the Final Preliminary Feasibility Study (November 2006) concluded that projected economic benefits would exceed total construction, operation, and maintenance costs. The study identified a projected return on investment of nearly 6%, driven primarily by iron ore transport from east–central Yukon to Alaska tidewater.

The incremental approach evaluates segments such as Houston to Port Mackenzie, Eielson AFB to Delta Junction, Whitehorse to Carmacks, and Haines to Carmacks — each capable of generating regional economic benefit while serving as a building block toward a comprehensive Alaska–Canada corridor. Their work integrates engineering analysis, geospatial modeling, environmental review, and phased implementation planning to strengthen the economic case for rail-based resource development.

Strategically, the project enhances bulk resource transport, reduces highway dependency, improves port access, and supports long–term regional integration. These incremental segments may also form part of a future northern extension toward western Alaska, potentially connecting with a trans–Bering rail corridor linking North America and Eurasia.

Alf Nunweiler is a long-time resident of Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, known for his extensive career in rail operations and public service in northern British Columbia. He retired in 1989 after 42 years as a dispatcher with Canadian National Railway (CN Rail), where he developed a deep understanding of rail logistics, northern terrain, and the transportation needs of remote communities.

Nunweiler also served in elected and ministerial roles in British Columbia. He was a two-term member of the Prince George City Council before representing Fort George in the provincial legislature as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from 1972 to 1975. During that period, he held the position of British Columbia Northern Affairs Minister, advocating for economic development, infrastructure investment, and community support across northern regions.

In his work related to the Alaska-Canada rail and energy corridor, Nunweiler contributed to policy discussions around northern transport and resource export strategies. His perspective informed the article “Modern Railway Project Could Serve the Northern Peoples as well as Solve Canada’s Oil Export Problems,” which outlines a proposal by the G7G consortium to transport Alberta crude by rail through northern routes that bypass the Rockies and reach tidewater in Alaska. The plan emphasizes broad economic and social benefits for northern communities, improved access to global markets, and enhanced integration of rail and energy infrastructure in the region.

Boris A. Binkin, PhD (Economics), is an Economist Emeritus based in Seattle, USA, with long-standing expertise in international economic systems and strategic transport development.

Sergey A. Bykadorov, Doctor of Science (Economics), is Professor at the Siberian State Transport University (Novosibirsk, Russia), specializing in transport economics, infrastructure systems analysis, and large-scale railway development.

Yevgeny B. Kibalov, Doctor of Science (Economics), is Professor and Chief Scientist at the Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Novosibirsk, Russia), focusing on macroeconomic modeling, regional development, and strategic infrastructure planning.

Together, they authored “Russia as a Configurator of a World Railway System in the XXI Century”, a systems-level analysis of Russia’s potential role as an integrator of a unified Eurasian–American rail network.

The study applies systems analysis and elements of game theory to examine how Russia could cooperate—particularly with the United States and other Western powers—to shape a balanced and efficient global transport market. The authors define a “standard situation” scenario in which major Large-Scale Projects (LSPs) are completed within twenty-five years, enabling evaluation of geopolitical, economic, and structural impacts.

Eight strategic railway initiatives—including modernization of the Trans-Siberian and Baikal–Amur Mainlines, the Subpolar corridor, the Trans-Korean link, Sakhalin connections to Japan and Korea, and the transcontinental Bering Strait Mainline—are identified as foundational pillars of a future integrated system. These projects are grouped into three interacting megaproject clusters, with the Bering Strait corridor described as the central intercontinental element capable of redefining Eurasia–America transport relations.

The authors conclude that coordinated railway integration could reposition Russia from a peripheral transit territory to a core configurator of the world’s overland logistics architecture. While acknowledging geopolitical constraints and competitive interests, they argue that cooperative realization of these megaprojects would produce not only commercial gains but also long-term political and ecological benefits, linking four continents into a continuous land-based transport network.

Fyodor Soloview is an Alaskan businessman, transportation researcher, and founder of InterBering, LLC, an international consulting initiative advocating the construction of a Bering Strait railway tunnel linking the United States, Russia, and East Asia. A graduate of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Soloview was raised in Moscow in a family connected with the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet. Since relocating to Alaska in 1990, he has dedicated his career to strengthening commercial and infrastructure ties between North America and Eurasia.

Soloview has long promoted the concept of a fixed rail connection across the Bering Strait, viewing it as a logical continuation of major global infrastructure achievements such as Europe’s Channel Tunnel. His advocacy has been featured in The Atlantic, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch, Engineering News-Record (ENR), The Moscow News, and Voice of America, which once observed that Washington’s diplomatic “reset” with Moscow could be “welded in steel” through such a project.

In his analytical study, Siberia in the 21st Century: Problems and Prospects of Development, Soloview presents a strategic framework for integrating Siberia and the Russian Far East into global trade networks. He argues that this vast territory—positioned between Europe, Asia, and North America—is uniquely capable of uniting three continents through continuous rail and energy infrastructure. At the center of this vision stands the Bering Strait Tunnel, conceived as the key link in a future intercontinental transport corridor.

Soloview maintains that such a corridor would rebalance global logistics by shifting freight flows from maritime routes to electrified overland rail, integrating Europe, China, Japan, Korea, and North America. He describes Russia’s geographic role as analogous to the ancient Mediterranean—a natural bridge enabling commerce and cultural exchange. He further contends that the absence of a direct U.S.–Russia rail connection has historically constrained trade and strategic cooperation, while a modern link could promote economic collaboration over geopolitical confrontation.

The proposed system includes dual-national customs facilities, high-capacity electrified rail, and supporting energy infrastructure, with potential hubs near Port MacKenzie in Alaska and Nizhny Bestyakh in Russia. Soloview estimates the total cost of the tunnel and connecting railways at approximately $135–$150 billion, financed through coordinated public and private investment. He envisions phased construction over 15–20 years, with concurrent development on both continents.

Emphasizing engineering feasibility, Soloview references international tunneling expertise and proposes reusing excavated basalt and gravel—estimated at over 50 million cubic meters—to construct railway subgrade across thousands of kilometers, reducing environmental impact and material costs. He concludes that a continuous rail connection between North America and Eurasia would redefine global trade geography, dramatically shorten transport distances, and elevate Alaska and Russia to historically unprecedented roles in world commerce.

As Soloview states: “In all the world, there is perhaps no more obvious opportunity to bring together natural resources and ready markets than Alaska’s Bering Straits. Facilitating the transport of goods and passengers between North America and Asia will not only open a major new avenue for trade but will also serve as a catalyst for development in both Alaska and the Russian Far East.”