The Research Of Modern U.S. Arctic Strategy (2009-2011)

The Arctic region is surrounded by Eurasia and the North American continent, while inWestern Europe, East Asia and North America is the most developed political and economicregions in the world today; the Arctic’s geopolitical value is enormous. But historically, theArctic region has been ice-covered for a long period, so few people concern about this area. Inrecent years due to global warming, the Polar Regions ice-cap began to melt, which makesnavigation of the Arctic available theoretically. If the sea route is opened, it will greatly shortenthe maritime distance between the three continents; and promote world trade. In addition, thescientific investigation also shows that the Arctic region contains a large amount of oil and gasresources, which could be comparable with the Middle East. Therefore, the Arctic has a largestrategic value in the future, the United States is the only country which has global influence, itwill not neglect interest presence in the Arctic. Since2009, U.S. President George W. Bushsigned the No.66Presidential Decision Directives, which makes an announcement of the U.S.Arctic strategy. The U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, and National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration have also released the Arctic strategy instruction and strategic vision. This seriesof strategic reports, instructions, and visions indicate that the U.S. focuses on Arctic strategy.However, the implementation of U.S. Arctic strategy faces many problems from multi-factorsinside and outside. This paper attempts to make an analysis of the contemporary U.S. Arcticstrategy from the three perspectives. At last, the author will make a brief consideration for theChinese Arctic strategy in the summary part.