Race for resources: Russia to send two brigades to Arctic region

View of the Arctic on 21 September 2005, the date at which the sea ice was at its minimum extent for the year in the northern hemisphere. (Image from CIA World Fact Book, courtesy of NASA.)Russia has announced plans to send two army brigades to the Arctic region where abundant resources of oil and gas promise wealth to countries with a stake in the region.

Besides those resources, the area is believed to have aluminum and ruby deposits. Another bonus would be the expansion of a sea route.

The BBC said, “Russia hopes that the Northern Sea Route will open up and allow northern European shipping to get to the Far East a third quicker than via the Suez Canal.”

Russia has already planted a titanium flag on the sea floor beneath the North Pole.

A group of countries whose borders lie on the Arctic Circle formed the Arctic Council. Member states are Canada, Denmark/Greenland/Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, The Russian Federation and the USA. There is also a category called ‘permanent participants’ to ensure representation for Arctic indigenous people. Council members have agreed to cooperate on search and rescue missions.

Russia, however, has demonstrated aggressiveness aimed at securing riches. The Wall Street Journal said, “Russia has staked a claim to a large part of the Arctic, which is thought to hold as much as a quarter of the world's oil and gas reserves, arguing that an underwater ridge running from its northern Siberian shores leads directly to the North Pole.”

Defense News, a Gannet Company, characterized Russia’s troop deployment as training in preparation for a “possible showdown.”

The U.S. has also engaged in training exercises off the coast of Alaska.

In May Wikileaks released cables that suggested countries are “racing to carve up Arctic resources.”

The BBC reported WikiLeaks also said, “The cables also report Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper telling Nato to keep out of the Arctic - an issue where he is in agreement with Russia.”

WSJ said, “Russia's claims mostly antagonize Canada and Denmark, whose ambitions most closely overlap Russia's in the region.”

Russia’s deployment plans surfaced in international media over a long holiday weekend in the U.S. Little attention was given to the announcement.

The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world’s five oceans, according to the CIA World Fact Book.

(Filed by Kay B. Day/July 5, 2011)

Please help keep The US Report, an independent blog, online by using the PayPal link in the top right column to make a donation.