At the Origins of International Cooperation Among Geocryologists: From the History of the Formation of Connections Between Soviet Permafrost Researchers and North American Scientists in the 1960s

This study is dedicated to creating a cohesive scientific representation of the initial stage of the development of contacts between scientists from the USSR, the USA, and Canada in the field of permafrost research and the exchange of scientific and practical experience in the development of territories located in the cryolithozone. In this regard, the purpose of the work is to reconstruct the history of the establishment of scientific ties between Soviet geocryologists and their colleagues from North American research centers in the 1960s, as well as to determine the main forms of development and results of this process. The relevance of this issue is emphasized, first, by the existing gap in historiography, and second, by the current geopolitical situation. It appears that the reconstruction of examples from the past, demonstrating the possibilities and role of scientific connections in establishing contacts between countries at odds in military-political and financial-economic relations, could serve as one of the drivers for the gradual "reset" of international relations in the modern world. The development of the topic is based on documents identified in the archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Scientific Archive of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In processing these documents, mainly historical methods of scientific knowledge were employed: the principle of historicism, historical-typological, historical-comparative, and historical-genetic methods. As a result of the conducted research, a coherent scientific representation of the history of the establishment of international ties among Soviet, American, and Canadian permafrost researchers in the 1960s has been created for the first time in historiography. In this context, the history of joint initiatives realized during this period has been reconstructed. It is noted that despite the limited nature of cooperation, the first experience of interaction demonstrated in this article was a significant step forward and subsequently led to a considerable intensification of international ties among permafrost researchers. During the examined period, this experience was represented by participation in international forums held in the USA and the USSR, as well as by reciprocal familiarization trips of geocryologists, which effectively took the form of internships, facilitating the exchange of scientific and practical experience regarding the consideration of the permafrost factor in the development of Arctic and Subarctic territories. The role of the director of the Institute of Permafrost Studies, P.I. Melnikov, in developing international scientific ties is also highlighted.