A Kremlin strategy paper, outlining Russia’s plans to develop a military force capable of protecting its interests in the disputed arctic region, was made public today. By 2020, Moscow expects the arctic to be the country’s main strategic resource base.
Rising temperatures are melting polar ice, opening shipping lanes and easing exploration in the area. The United States, Russia, Norway, Denmark and Canada all claim portions and the arctic contains up to “25 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas.”
For more on the area, see the Foreign Policy Association’s blog on the arctic.
Photo from Andy Armstrong/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
