Aware not only of NATO states' plans for the Arctic -
for energy, transit and military purposes - Russia
sent two mini-subs to the Arctic Circle in August of
2007, renewing 80-year-old Russian claims to a large
swathe of the region and planting a flag at the sea
bed of the North Pole, later pressing its claim at the
United Nations.
At roughly the same time Russia resumed strategic
bomber patrols in the world's oceans for the first
time since the end of the Soviet Union, including in
the Arctic Circle, off the coast of Alaska and over
the North and Norwegian Seas.
After the August 2007 Russian polar expedition, in a
feature entitled "Arctic expedition backs up Russia's
claim for larger economic zone," it was reported:
"Experts believe the Arctic Ocean contains about 100
billion tonnes of various hydrocarbons, mostly oil and
gas, which is much more than the reserves of Saudi
Arabia and twice more than Russia's land
reserves....'If we manage to prove at the United
Nations that the Lomonosov Ridge is a continuation of
the Siberian platform - the Russian continental shelf
- we will control about two-thirds of the entire
hydrocarbon reserves of the Arctic Ocean.."
(Interfax, October 25, 2007)
An Indian daily had warned beforehand that:
"Experts doubt western nations will let Russia win its
claim of the Arctic shelf in the U.N. no matter how
solid its scientific evidence may be. Moreover, the
U.S., acting through the Arctic Council, has been
pushing to internationalise the Arctic Ocean — that
is, secure free access to its seabed resources and
trade routes even within Russia’s exclusive economic
zone."
(The Hindu, July 16, 2007)
Washington was not slow to respond.
In June of last year the Pentagon held a 12-day
exercise, Northern Edge 2008, in Alaska, in which
5,000 soldiers, 120 aircraft and several warships
participated.
In anticipation of the the war games, whose target was
the Arctic, this warning was sounded from Moscow:
"Russia’s military leadership will react to
the large-scale US exercises in the northern latitudes
by the adjustment of the plans of combat training of
its army for the reliable protection of the country’s
national interests in the Arctic, the head of the main
combat training and service department of Russian
troops, Lieutenant-General Vladimir Shamanov told
Itar-Tass on Monday."
(Itar-Tass, May 5, 2008)
The New York Times reported on a meeting in May of
leaders of the Pentagon’s Pacific Command, Northern
Command and Transportation Command which strongly
recommended in a letter that the Joint Chiefs of Staff
endorsed a push by the Coast Guard to increase the
ability to gain access to and control its
Arctic waters.
In July, US Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen
testified before a committee of the US Congress and
informed his audience "that Russia is getting ahead of
the United States in the 'Arctic race' and the current
U.S. administration must urgently revise its approach
to Arctic exploration."
A contention supported by Mead Treadwell, chairman
of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, who added:
"'In the 20th century, the advent of aircraft,
missiles, and missile defense made the Arctic region a
major venue for projection of power and a frontier for
protecting the security of North America, Asia and
Europe."
-"'[A]n accessible Arctic Ocean also means new or
expanded routes for the U.S. military sealift to move
assets from one part of the world to another. The
Commission believes polar icebreakers are an essential
maritime component to guarantee that this U.S. polar
mobility exists.'"
(Russian Information Agency Novosti, July 17, 2008)
The same month, just days before being indicted by a
federal grand jury, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens invoked
alleged national security concerns over the Arctic:
"Domestic resources — and in particular those in the
Arctic and the Outer Continental Shelf — must be
developed in the interest of national security,
Stevens said."
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, July 4, 2008)
for energy, transit and military purposes - Russia
sent two mini-subs to the Arctic Circle in August of
2007, renewing 80-year-old Russian claims to a large
swathe of the region and planting a flag at the sea
bed of the North Pole, later pressing its claim at the
United Nations.
At roughly the same time Russia resumed strategic
bomber patrols in the world's oceans for the first
time since the end of the Soviet Union, including in
the Arctic Circle, off the coast of Alaska and over
the North and Norwegian Seas.
After the August 2007 Russian polar expedition, in a
feature entitled "Arctic expedition backs up Russia's
claim for larger economic zone," it was reported:
"Experts believe the Arctic Ocean contains about 100
billion tonnes of various hydrocarbons, mostly oil and
gas, which is much more than the reserves of Saudi
Arabia and twice more than Russia's land
reserves....'If we manage to prove at the United
Nations that the Lomonosov Ridge is a continuation of
the Siberian platform - the Russian continental shelf
- we will control about two-thirds of the entire
hydrocarbon reserves of the Arctic Ocean.."
(Interfax, October 25, 2007)
"Experts doubt western nations will let Russia win its
claim of the Arctic shelf in the U.N. no matter how
solid its scientific evidence may be. Moreover, the
U.S., acting through the Arctic Council, has been
pushing to internationalise the Arctic Ocean — that
is, secure free access to its seabed resources and
trade routes even within Russia’s exclusive economic
zone."
(The Hindu, July 16, 2007)
Washington was not slow to respond.
In June of last year the Pentagon held a 12-day
exercise, Northern Edge 2008, in Alaska, in which
5,000 soldiers, 120 aircraft and several warships
participated.
In anticipation of the the war games, whose target was
the Arctic, this warning was sounded from Moscow:
"Russia’s military leadership will react to
the large-scale US exercises in the northern latitudes
by the adjustment of the plans of combat training of
its army for the reliable protection of the country’s
national interests in the Arctic, the head of the main
combat training and service department of Russian
troops, Lieutenant-General Vladimir Shamanov told
Itar-Tass on Monday."
(Itar-Tass, May 5, 2008)
The New York Times reported on a meeting in May of
leaders of the Pentagon’s Pacific Command, Northern
Command and Transportation Command which strongly
recommended in a letter that the Joint Chiefs of Staff
endorsed a push by the Coast Guard to increase the
ability to gain access to and control its
Arctic waters.
In July, US Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen
testified before a committee of the US Congress and
informed his audience "that Russia is getting ahead of
the United States in the 'Arctic race' and the current
U.S. administration must urgently revise its approach
to Arctic exploration."
A contention supported by Mead Treadwell, chairman
of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, who added:
"'In the 20th century, the advent of aircraft,
missiles, and missile defense made the Arctic region a
major venue for projection of power and a frontier for
protecting the security of North America, Asia and
Europe."
-"'[A]n accessible Arctic Ocean also means new or
expanded routes for the U.S. military sealift to move
assets from one part of the world to another. The
Commission believes polar icebreakers are an essential
maritime component to guarantee that this U.S. polar
mobility exists.'"
(Russian Information Agency Novosti, July 17, 2008)
The same month, just days before being indicted by a
federal grand jury, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens invoked
alleged national security concerns over the Arctic:
"Domestic resources — and in particular those in the
Arctic and the Outer Continental Shelf — must be
developed in the interest of national security,
Stevens said."
(Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, July 4, 2008)
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