Meanwhile, While No One Seems to be Looking

On August 2, 2007, “Russia symbolically staked its claim to billions of dollars worth of oil and gas reserves in the Arctic Ocean … when two mini submarines reached the seabed more than two and a half miles beneath the North Pole… In a record-breaking dive, the two craft planted a one metre-high titanium Russian flag [pictured above] on the underwater Lomonosov ridge, which Moscow claims is directly connected to its continental shelf.” TheGuardian.com, August 2, 2007. Barely made the front page of most impacted regional countries.

As bragged about in the Russian press, “Russia has started building the world’s largest universal nuclear-powered icebreaker capable of navigating in the Arctic and in the shallow waters of Siberian rivers. The unique vessel will further increase Russia’s dominance in the region.” RT.com, November 5, 2013. “St. Petersburg’s Baltic Shipyard has won an uncontested tender to build the first three of Russia’s new generation of ‘super modern’ universal-use nuclear icebreakers in a $2.3 billion windfall for the Unified Shipbuilding Corporation owned conglomerate… As evidenced by the trumpet call of official Russian media, the finalization who will build the ships is one more important flagstone in Russia’s path to dominance in the Arctic, and was cast in terms of a victorious battle against foreign influence and Russia’s indomitable declaration that it will not be marginalized in waters it considers its birthright.” Bellona.org, May 9^th. Whoa! Tough talk. No other country on earth has ice breakers like that. The story wasn’t even a blip in the international press.

“Russia has dispatched a group of ships from its Northern Fleet to the Arctic, with the aim of restoring a permanent base in the region, Russia media say… A detachment including two amphibious vessels and an anti-submarine ship set off from the fleet's base in Severomorsk, near the Norwegian border…It will take equipment and personnel to the eastern New Siberian Islands… Russia is boosting its naval presence in the Arctic as regional powers seek to claim its rich natural resources… The original base on the islands was abandoned in 1993… Ten ships went to the islands last September to restore an air force commandant's headquarters.” BBC.com, September 6^th. Barely reported by the press in the most impacted regional countries.

As global warming melts Arctic ice, the once elusive Northwest Passage is becoming a reality and access to Arctic riches is increasingly viable. Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States, all members of the Arctic Council, have a stake in this delicate environmental region. Russia’s military build-up, it design of unique-capability ice breakers, its obvious territorial ambitions and its bellicose and arrogant approach to the Arctic riches should have all of us deeply concerned. The Bering Strait, once a land bridge across which ancient indigenous peoples crossed from Asia to North America, separates the United States (Alaska) from Russia. It is less than 52 miles at its narrowest point, and since 2012, the Russian side of this strait has been closed military zone.  

The country that has invaded Georgia (2008) and recently conquered Crimea and invaded eastern Ukraine is massing military and technical capacity, making vast territorial claims, in our very backyard. So far, we have let Russia pretty much have her way, responding by launching mild “economic sanctions” that only seem to delight the “we’re proud to suffer again” Russians. It is in the murky context that Russians are making another move, a 10 minute flight from the United States itself, seeking more territory and more riches. All this while no one seems to be looking, distracted by everything else happening on this angry planet. Where do you think this will lead?

I’m Peter Dekom, and to the extent we really want our military to have viability, the Russian incursion in the Arctic needs a powerful, multinational armed force to let Russia know that their obvious Arctic ambitions cannot and will not happen.