Last updated on January 9, 2024
America is the land of freedom built amid bustling forests, blazing deserts, sandy beaches, and even lush swamps—yet, for many Americans, the last thing they would think is that we are one built on the Arctic. In fact, in a survey conducted by the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS), just 18 percent of people know that the U.S. has Arctic territory in the icy expanse that is Alaska. However, it’s not just the people who seem to have the Arctic at the back of their minds, it’s our policymakers as well.
Indeed, the U.S. has invested very little into Arctic resources, having no real ports or infrastructure along Alaska’s Arctic waters, a limited military presence, and lackluster diplomatic engagement. Perhaps this made sense a few years ago when the Arctic was relatively inaccessible and characterized by low tensions with collaboration among all Arctic states, regardless of geopolitical tensions across the globe—a concept renowned by foreign policy experts as “Arctic Exceptionalism”; however, things have changed. In essence, there have been two major developments in the world marking the end of that era.
The first is climate change. For decades, scientists have warned of an apocalyptic future, with global warming throwing the world out of balance, but now, that future is rapidly becoming the present. In fact, in the Arctic—a region once thought impenetrable—the catastrophic effects of climate change have already begun to unravel. Indeed, even if greenhouse gas emissions are sharply reduced, the Arctic will be ice-free in the coming decades. It is now too late to save Arctic sea ice. Although an environmental catastrophe, it has opened up economic opportunities. Melted ice means that the 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil (90 billion barrels) and 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas resources (1,669 trillion cubic feet) buried in the Arctic and are now more accessible than ever. Moreover, as Arctic sea ice melts, its oceans have cleared, revealing efficient trade routes that could cut current travel times by more than half. As a result, countries, namely Russia and China, have taken notice of this evolving Arctic landscape, investing in Arctic equipment and infrastructure to secure these economic resources. Russia has developed a fleet that boasts more than 40 icebreaking ships and has even helped China in navigation and resource-extraction projects that will set the groundwork necessary to create a trade network that China calls its “Polar-Silk Road.”
The second is the war in Ukraine. For the first time in decades, activity in the Arctic was influenced by global geopolitical tensions—the official end of Arctic Exceptionalism. Indeed, the Western countries of the Arctic, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States, swiftly responded by cutting off all diplomatic ties through the Arctic Council—the organization made up of the Arctic nations in which collaboration was made possible. With Western ties severed, heated tensions emerged, ultimately pushing Russia to forge new Arctic ties with China—a maneuver likely to set themselves up to be dominant Arctic forces. Further, likely in an attempt to divert attention away from its failing war, Russia has taken an increasingly aggressive stance in the Arctic, even deploying vessels with tactical nuclear weapons on board for the first time since the end of the Cold War. Ultimately, the Arctic is getting increasingly militarized by our enemies potentially threatening us and our allies, but the U.S. is nowhere to be found.
With tensions boiling and interests in the region’s resources only growing, the Arctic is poised to be one of the next areas of Great Power Competition—yet, the U.S. is behind, still forgetting it’s an Arctic nation. It’s time that we step up and catch up to our adversaries in this Arctic race. We must begin considering investing in a military presence and infrastructure that will enable us to secure resources, trade routes, and our national security. America is an Arctic nation too and it’s time we show it.
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