The Kola Peninsula is one of the most heavily militarized areas in the world. The Northern Fleet, the largest and strategically most important of the four fleets of  the Russian Navy, has its main base and administrative centre in the city of Severomorsk in the Kola Fjord. The book discusses integration between the military and civil sectors in this area, emphasizing the continuum between the traditional military autonomy and the integration with civil society which one might expect as a result of the recent political changes in Russia. Three indicators of this relation are selected: i) the partici- pation of military personnel in civilian life, politics in particular; ii) the status of closed cities; and iii) conversion of military industry to civilian production. These indicators are investigated at the federal level and at the regional level pertaining to Murmansk oblast’. The study is based on extensive “on-the-spot” data gathering in Murmansk, including interviews with officers, redundant officers and inhabitants of the closed cities of the area.