Article by Scott Borgerson (International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard.
As global warming opens Arctic transportation corridors and possible oil deposits, Russia, Canada, Denmark, and Norway are all attempting to establish claims. The United States has rights to the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone, but we have not yet ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In addition, we have only one seaworthy icebreaker.
Global warming will likely open polar shipping lanes as well, which would shorten shipping time considerably. The shipping industry could save billions of dollars per year.
It is in our national interest to have a role in the Arctic, but our State Department and National Security Council have ignored the strategic importance of the area. We need to develop "overarching political or legal structures that can provide for the orderly development of the region."
Images: Foreign Affairs Magazine
