US-Russian Arctic Strategy Research After The Cold War

The melting of Arctic sea ice to record lows in recent years has prompted many nations,principally those with an Arctic coastline,the United States,Russia and Canada to reassess their commitments and strategic interests.Many scientists forecast ice-free summers in the Arctic in a matter of decades,opening the region up to greater commercialization,including energy production and shipping.Yet others say great obstacles to Arctic investment will endure for years to come despite the region's warming.The thaw will also pose new security challenges,as greater human activity induces Arctic nations to increase their military and constabulary presence in the high north.Arctic will enter a vast territory undergoing a historic and rapid transformation.Climate change,resource competition and renewed military between Russia and USA interest threaten to turn a place marked by cooperation in the decades since the Cold War into a zone of contention.The region holds major strategic significance for the handful of nations that ring the Arctic Circle.Until now,international cooperation in the region has largely been handled through the Arctic Council.Made up of eight nations,the United States,Russia,Denmark,Sweden,Norway,Iceland,Finland and Canada,it aims to work on environmental protection and sustainable development.As the sea ice recedes,Arctic waters,including the Chukchi seas,are becoming more navigable than at any time in the known past.Russia has the longest Arctic coastline by far,extending more than ten thousand miles.Yet in the race to stake claims in this newly accessible region,Russia is far ahead of the rest.For instance,shorter trade routes through the Arctic could be a boon to export-driven nations like China.Extensive thawing in the Arctic will also have significant,global climatic and environmental implications.Early in the cold war period,the Arctic region was one of the strategic areas between USSR and USA.After the end of the cold war,with the US-Soviet detente the collapse of the Soviet Union,Russia replaced USSR,continuing to play the role of competing in this region.As the two arctic nations,Russia and the United States in different historical period,continue to introduce their new Arctic strategy,to guide the respective departments related activities in this area,to obtain their respective national interests.After comparing and analyzing the Arctic strategy between the Russia and the United States from the geographical,history,politic,economy,security and other aspects of scientific research,we can get some useful experiences to provide some thinking for the Chinese government to develop an Arctic strategy in the future.