The United States, despite its military, economic and diplomatic potential, has maintained a somewhat hesitant stance in recent times in relation to the Arctic. A stance that has made it easier for actors such as Russia to become stronger in the region and for others such as the People's Republic of China to gain increasing influence in a crucial space due to its resources and - thanks to the melting of ice - as a future route for maritime trade. With the new Arctic Strategy 2024 recently published - which comes just two years after the 2022 strategy - Washington intends to reverse the current state of affairs, putting in black and white the main lines of action that the North American country will seek to follow during the coming years, promoting cooperation with its neighbors and close allies, and seeking to achieve adequate preparation to carry out deployments in the region.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- United States and the Arctic
- The Arctic Strategy 2024
- Closing remarks
- References
Introduction
The US Department of Defense published its new Arctic Strategy in July 2024, with which it hopes to guide national efforts to allow Washington to establish a leadership position in a region of key strategic importance for its territorial security. Over the past decades, Arctic geopolitics has become increasingly important internationally, due to the potential held by a region that was once inaccessible, but whose progressive melting of ice has opened the window to the exploitation of a large amount of natural resources, A good part of which rests under the seabed.
Moreover, as rising temperatures have reduced the extent of the ice sheet covering part of the region, facilitating access to regions further north in the Barents Sea, Russia has seen what was until recently its most secure border become another flank to defend against the growing presence of Western ships. Thus, over the last three decades, Moscow has made significant investments in its infrastructure and military bases spread along its Arctic coast., including the Kola Peninsula (home to, among others, its Northern Fleet, the most important in its navy), or the archipelagos of Novaya Zemlya or Franz Josef Land. In addition to reforming and re-equipping with modern means many bases that had been practically abandoned since the 1990s, which in turn has generated some unrest in neighbours in the region such as Norway or Sweden, it has devoted great efforts and resources to promoting the Northern Sea Route, which crosses the Arctic flank along its entire coast, connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic in less time than through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.
All of the above has led countries in the region such as the United States to see the adoption of a solid position in the geopolitics of this region as increasingly relevant, in order to guarantee the continuity of that rare phenomenon commonly described as “High North, Low Tensions” that has characterized the region for years, and to prevent any possible escalation of tensions with Moscow derived from the current conflict in Ukraine. In this context, the strategy published by Washington provides a clear vision of the main lines of action that the North American country will seek to follow during the coming years, fostering cooperation with its neighbors and close allies, and seeking to achieve adequate preparation to carry out deployments in the region. This vision clashes, however, with the complicated situation that its national maritime industry is going through, including the naval one.
This article first addresses the United States' relationship with the Arctic, followed by a brief analysis of the content of the new document, and ending with some considerations about American aspirations in the region for the near future.
United States and the Arctic
Since Washington bought Alaska from Russia for just over $1867 billion in 7, the United States has been part of a small club of countries with Arctic coastlines. At the time, the purchase was seen by Americans as nonsense and a waste of money. More than 150 years later, thanks to that purchase, the United States is in a privileged position to take part in the geopolitics of a region in full swing.
Almost two years ago We analyzed in these pages the 2022 US National Arctic Strategy. We said then that the document reflected a “shift in the US government’s mindset. Whereas the 2013 version barely touched on geopolitical tensions and focused on cooperation and prevention in the face of climate change, the new edition clearly underlines the dramatic change in the strategic environment and the need for intervention to preserve stability.” Two years later, the new strategy published by the State Department goes even further, highlighting Washington’s concern over the activities of China and Russia, as well as cooperation between the two, and the growing militarization of the Russian high north region.
However, as we mentioned a few lines back, the US maritime reality is going through a markedly difficult time. Its naval industry is suffering, like that of most Western countries, with serious personnel and capacity problems. This shortage has resulted, among other things, in numerous delays in the construction of its warships, including The future Constellation class frigates or Columbia-class strategic submarines. In the case of the Arctic and its Coast Guard, the poor state of its fleet of icebreaker ships also calls into question Washington's presence in its northern backyard, with a fleet that, in addition to being too small for national needs, has relatively outdated ships that are light years away from those possessed by Russia. All of this poses a major challenge for Washington when it comes to strengthening its presence in the region in accordance with the lines set out in its 2024 strategy. Therefore, as we will see below, although the analysis of the document reveals a clear will, making it a reality will be more difficult than it may seem at first.
Arctic Strategy 2024
The new Arctic Strategy 2024 first outlines Washington’s defense interests in the region, reiterating at various points that “the Arctic is a strategically important region for the United States.”[1] These interests include infrastructure that Alaska hosts such as “aerospace warning systems, aerospace control, and maritime alert systems.”[2], as well as the role that this region plays in the execution of operations in the Indo-Pacific as its northern flank. On the other hand, the existing cooperation with its allies on the other side of the Atlantic, in the so-called European Arctic (Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland) is also mentioned, emphasizing that "the collaboration in this region between the Unified Combatant Commands (Unified Combatant Commands (in English) and Arctic allies is critical to the collective defense of NATO and the U.S. national defense.”[3] Finally, they also highlight that "the reduction of ice due to climate change means that bottlenecks such as the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia or the Barents Sea north of Norway are increasingly navigable and more militarily relevant."[4]
The US then provides a brief analysis of the strategic environment in the region, focusing on two main players: China and Russia. Regarding China, the US strategy for 2022 stated that “the PRC seeks to increase its influence in the Arctic through a broader portfolio of economic, diplomatic, scientific, and military activities. It has also emphasized its intention to play a greater role in shaping regional governance.” In the 2024 strategy, as part of the description of the strategic environment in the region, something similar is maintained, also detailing the growing capabilities it has in terms of icebreakers and scientific research. It also emphasizes that “its Polar Silk Road has been used to gain a presence in the region by pursuing investments in infrastructure and natural resources, including in the territory of NATO member countries.”[5]
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