The US announcement of an Ambassador-at-Large for the Arctic region comes not a moment too soon.
... [+]On August 26 the U.S. State Department announced the creation of an Ambassador-at-Large for the Arctic region. It’s the right move as geopolitical challenges in the world’s coldest region heats up.
During the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union jockeyed for advantages in the far north. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, tensions subsided. The 1990s spirit of rapprochement between Western nations and Russia helped produce the Arctic Council, an international forum founded in 1996. Today the Council counts the Arctic-adjacent nations of Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the U.S. in its membership, and plays an important role in coordinating policy.
But now the Arctic is attracting more attention from policymakers. Melting sea ice has opened up new shipping routes that can allow the world’s cargo ships to cut as many as 20 days off the time of a journey from ports in the Pacific to those in Western Europe. The U.S. Geological Survey has posited that the region may contain 90 billion barrels of oil and up to $1 trillion in rare earth metals. Plentiful fisheries yielding about $500 million worth of catches per year abound, as well.
Unsurprisingly, nations of the world have moved fast to seize the opportunity. In 2018, China proclaimed itself a “near-Arctic state,” which Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rightlyas preposterous. China is still 900 miles from the Arctic at its closest measurement. Russia, China’s neighbor to the north, has some 15,000 miles of Arctic border.
The military implications the Arctic are significant, as well. Controlling the Arctic allows nations to move forces across the world at faster speeds and reduce overflight times for aircraft and missiles. Consequently, Russia and China have become more aggressive in asserting control. Russia has added a new Arctic Command to its military structure and re-opened Soviet military sites.
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