We Didn\u27t Cross the Border; the Border Crossed Us : Informal Social Adaptations to Formal Governance and Policies by Communities Across the Bering Sea Region in the Russian Far East and United States

Abstract

Territorially isolated villages along the shores of the U.S. and Russian Bering Sea live with stark political lines dividing a region that shares a common history, heritage, and contemporary existence. It is also a region whose environmental security is threatened by common changes occurring throughout the area but for whom possible responses to these changes are shaped by the policies and politics of the countries in which they reside. This paper is based on the experience from an international observing network, the Community Observing Network for Adaptation and Security (CONAS), which provides rare insights on how political context, across the remote and unique region of the Bering Sea, shapes the realities of a People and how informal social institutions have adapted as a result