By Bijac @Adobe Stock
Daniel Kiss, Thomas Grove, Vipal Monga, Austin Ramzy, and Roque Ruiz of The Wall Street Journal report that the Arctic is becoming a key geopolitical battleground, with Russia and China expanding military and economic presence. As sea ice melts, access to resources and shipping routes increases, intensifying competition. Russia leads in Arctic energy and infrastructure, while China strengthens its role through joint military drills and cooperation with Russia. The U.S. and Canada are working to update their defenses but face challenges in keeping up with Russia’s advanced capabilities in the region. They write:
Things in the Arctic have never been hotter. In the past year, Russian nuclear submarines have practiced firing cruise missiles near NATO members Norway, Finland and Sweden. That drill followed Arctic wargames by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that included amphibious assaults in the frigid seas.
When Russian and Chinese bombers flew together north of Alaska in August, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski described the move as an “unprecedented provocation by our adversaries.” The following month, Russia and China sent patrol boats through icy waters of the high north.
The U.S. and Russia are only 53 miles apart across the Bering Strait, near the Arctic Circle. Geopolitically, they are more distant than in decades. […]
“The Arctic is a region for potential future conflict,” Russia’s Commander of the Northern Fleet, Aleksandr Moiseyev, told a recent Arctic conference in St. Petersburg, according to Russian state news agency TASS. […]
Security is now joining commerce at the forefront of Russia-China Arctic cooperation. The Chinese Coast Guard and the Russian Border Guard in October staged their first joint patrol in the Arctic. The U.S. Coast Guard, which monitored the two Chinese and two Russian ships by air, said it was the farthest north that ships from the Chinese Coast Guard had ever been spotted.
In July, two Russian and two Chinese bombers flew together near Alaska, where they were intercepted by U.S. and Canadian jet fighters. The bombers came about 200 miles from the Alaskan coast and didn’t enter U.S. or Canadian airspace. U.S. officials said it was the first time the two countries had carried out such a joint patrol near Alaska.
In 2023, ships from the Russian and Chinese navies jointly patrolled near Alaska, which was considered the largest such flotilla to approach American shores, although they never entered U.S. territorial waters.
China and Russia now have “comprehensive” Arctic cooperation, said Liu Nengye, an associate professor at Singapore Management University, who researches polar law. “It’s resources, it’s shipping, it’s scientific research, it’s military drills,” he said.
Read more here.
Also read, Trump: U.S. Will Order 40 Coast Guard Icebreakers, The U.S. Navy Desperately Needs Icebreakers, Coast Guard Faces Challenges in Expanding Icebreaker Fleet, Russia’s ‘Combat Icebreaker’ Sets Sail, The Arctic Buildup: A New Cold War, and U.S. Coast Guard Admiral: Potential Russian ‘Checkmate’ in the Arctic, and Russia Showcases New Arctic Military Vehicles at Red Square Parade.
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