According to a report by Russia's RT on October 17, Dmitryev, a presidential advisor of Russia, proposed the construction of a tunnel under the Bering Strait to directly connect Russia and the United States, and invited Musk to participate.

The project is named "The Putin-Trump Tunnel," which is said to be 70 miles long, with an estimated cost of around $6.5 billion. If using Musk's tunneling technology, the cost could be reduced to $800 million and it would be completed within eight years.

Dmitryev described it as a century project that connects Asia-Europe with America and symbolizes unity.

This proposal does indeed have some engineering feasibility from a geographical perspective.

The narrowest part of the Bering Strait is only 82 kilometers, with relatively shallow water depths, mostly within 50 meters, and two Diomede Islands in the middle can serve as relay nodes.

However, the problem is that the Bering Strait is located near the Arctic Circle, with extremely cold climates, drastic changes in ice layers, and frequent seismic activity, making the construction difficulty far exceeding general cross-sea projects. Moreover, connecting the Siberian permafrost with the Alaskan wilderness, the supporting transportation system will also cost a lot.

In other words, it is actually not realistic.

Bering Strait

By closely examining the naming and the selection of the target of this proposal, one can understand what it really means—it's just trying to fool Trump.

Naming the project "The Putin-Trump Tunnel" itself has a strong personal touch, trying to impress Trump's intuitive political style with narratives of strong man collaboration and a vision for the century.

Inviting Musk to participate is also catering to his preferences, trying to create a story tailored for the American right wing.

Considering that Trump has shown a cold attitude towards Ukraine multiple times after taking office, and has a tendency to seek reconciliation with Russia, it's easy to understand why Russia chose this moment to show goodwill.

However, this gesture of goodwill does not mean that Russia is willing to stand on the American side to oppose China.

From a geopolitical perspective, China and Russia are currently at a high level of interaction, with China being Russia's most important partner and strategic support. China provides significant buffer for Russia in energy, military industry, and finance.

If Russia truly allied with the United States to contain China, it would be like destroying its own back door.

Overall, it's just a performance between the two sides. Since Trump has shown a pro-Russian stance, Russia needs to elevate him a bit; it cannot let Trump perform alone.

Dmitryev and Putin

It should be noted that this is not the first time Russia has proposed such a transoceanic connection concept.

From the Tsarist era to the Soviet period, and even under Putin's current rule, Russia has at least three times attempted to connect the Eurasian continent with the North American continent.

The first was at the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century, when the Tsarist government and some American railway capitalists had envisioned extending the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Bering Strait and ultimately connecting Alaska via an underwater tunnel or a sea bridge, forming a railway that spans Asia-Europe and America.

The idea at the time was filled with industrial utopian enthusiasm, but due to multiple obstacles such as geology, climate, and finance, it was never implemented.

The second was during the Cold War in the 1960s, when the Soviet Union had envisioned a "Khrushchev-Kennedy Peace Bridge," aiming to connect the Soviet Far East with the United States through a bridge, symbolizing the common pursuit of world peace by the leaders of both countries.

This idea was recently disclosed again by Russia when declassifying documents about the assassination of Kennedy, including a sketch marked with "immediate construction."

Although the idea was never publicly executed at the time, it did reflect a kind of idealism beyond the Cold War in Soviet political propaganda at the time.

Like the current "Putin-Trump Tunnel," these two ideas were essentially not engineering blueprints, but political visions.

Putin and Trump

The reason why such operations to connect the US and Russia are repeatedly proposed actually reveals a long-standing psychological need of Russia in the global geopolitical structure: to be seen as a connector between the East and West, rather than being isolated on the edge of the world system.

Culturally, Russia is neither entirely European nor truly Asian. This intermediary identity makes it especially eager to prove its unique role through super connections.

On the other hand, Russia is not a leader in the era of globalization. What it can play is often symbolic and discursive rather than substantive.

A more realistic reason is that whenever Russia faces international isolation or strategic anxiety, it will revive this old bridge: it doesn't need to spend real money, yet it can smoke screens for both China and the US.

Over time, the difficult-to-reach waters of the Bering Strait have become the most frequently invoked geopolitical symbol in Russia's foreign policy discourse.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7562459780013048372/

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