Article Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/world/europe/greenpeace-activists-face-possible-piracy-charges-in-russia.html
This article is related to the theme of foreign affairs because it highlights the tension between Russia and several other countries belonging to an international environmental awareness organization after an attempt at protesting environmental degradation. Greenpeace, the environmental organization, decided to engage in the act of peaceful protest against Russia’s energy exploration plan in the Arctic. Greenpeace saw Russia’s new energy exploration plan in the Arctic as a threat to the environment and an attempt to exploit natural resources in this small and fragile region. As a result, the organization protested by using a ship to scale an offshore oil platform in the Arctic. Russia responded by towing the ship, which they saw as an intrusion and thwart against their energy plan. The ship’s crew had included citizens from 18 different countries, including one American. These citizens will now face criminal charges, regardless of their nationality. Many argue that what the Greenpeace ship did was illegal, dangerous, and threatened both the people involved in the offshore confrontation and the environment the organization desires to protect. Many also say that this confrontation only worsened the foreign relations between the United States and Russia, two countries that have clashed repeatedly in recent months since the highly publicized arrest of an American diplomat. Many wonder if this move by Greenpeace will be seen by most as an attempt at peaceful protest to save the environment or if it will be interpreted as an unnecessary “extremist” move that will only worsen foreign relations with Russia.