A Study On The Trump Administration's Arctic Strategy

As global warming intensifies,the Arctic has entered an era of rapid melting of sea ice.The more open Arctic is attracting the world's attention more and more,and the strategic value of the Arctic in the fields of resource development,waterway utilization and military competition is becoming more and more prominent,and the extremely cold Arctic has now become a hot spot in the game of interests.In order to seize the opportunities brought about by the changes in the natural environment of the Arctic,Arctic countries and countries outside the Arctic region have introduced national-level Arctic strategies,and participation in Arctic affairs has increased significantly.The United States is one of the uncontested powers in the Arctic region,and has a wide influence on the geopolitical landscape of the Arctic region,so successive governments have attracted wide attention from the international community.In the early days of Mr.Trump's presidency,the direction of America's Arctic strategy was unclear.After more than two years of adaptation and adjustment,in June 2019,the U.S.Department of Defense released the latest edition of the Arctic Strategy,marking the formal formation of the Trump administration's Arctic Strategy.In this context,it is of great practical significance to comb and summarize the adjustment of the U.S.Arctic strategy since Trump took office,to explore the characteristics of the Trump administration's Arctic strategy which is different from that of previous U.S.governments,and to analyze its future development trend.This paper takes "the Trump Administration's Arctic Strategy" as the research object,and uses the literature analysis method and comparative research method to comprehensively interpret the connotation and extension of the Trump administration's Arctic strategy.The main content is divided into four chapters.The first chapter analyzes the background of the introduction of the Trump administration's Arctic strategy,which spans the Bush administration,the Clinton administration and the Obama administration,and the latter mainly includes the external drivers of changes in the Arctic natural and geo-environment,as well as the internal drivers of the Trump administration's global strategic shift.Based on the Trump administration's official Arctic Strategy Paper and practical initiatives in the Arctic,the second chapter provides a detailed analysis of the goals and strategic initiatives of the Trump administration's Arctic strategy based on the official document released by the Trump Administration and the actual actions of the United States in the Arctic region.The third chapter is an overall assessment of the Trump administration's Arctic strategy,starting with the elaboration of its strategic characteristics,and then analyzing its impact on the United States itself,U.S.-Russian relations,China and the Arctic order,and finally pointing out the many constraints that the Trump administration will face in advancing the implementation of the current Arctic strategy.The fourth chapter,based on the previous study,tries to predict the development trend of the Trump administration's Arctic strategy,and finally puts forward some suggestions for China's response.In this paper,the United States has the dual status of world power and Arctic power.The Trump administration's Arctic strategy is the inevitable result of the U.S.strategic competition and maintaining global dominance in the context of the increasingly fierce competition in the Arctic.The Trump administration,recognizing the current lack of U.S.operational capacity in the Arctic,has made maintaining national security interests,maintaining a favourable balance of power in the Arctic and shaping the U.S.-led Arctic order as the goal of its Arctic strategy.Unlike the Obama administration,which has made climate change an entry point for its Arctic strategy,the Trump administration has shifted its focus on energy development and military build-up.The Trump administration's emphasis on finding adversaries and highlighting the security of Arctic affairs will,while enhancing U.S.Arctic capabilities and closing the gap with Russia,is bound to exacerbate the militarization of the Arctic and worsen the geopolitical environment in the Arctic,making it difficult to make real progress in Arctic governance.The Trump administration has made it clear that Russia and China are strategic U.S.competitors in the Arctic region,and that future Russian and Chinese actions in the Arctic are bound to be contained and suppressed by the U.S.Therefore,China should be vigilant and respond positively.China needs to strengthen its capacity-building in polar operations to enhance its own Arctic interests,but also to focus on finding common interests between China and the United States in Arctic affairs,actively carry out Arctic diplomacy with flexibility and initiative,and safeguard peace and stability in the Arctic region.