Recent News
In response to China's aggressive claims in the South China Sea, the U.S. has been shifting its own focus to the legal domain. It is insistent that when it comes to maritime rights and access to natural resources, the law that truly matters is international law even though the U.S. position is significantly weakened by its non-party status to UNCLOS.
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Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi has informed the press that before the end of November his office will have submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the renewed UN application for the expansion of the Russian Arctic sea shelf zone.
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Several multinational Arctic projects have been damaged -- or are at risk of being damaged -- by political tensions in Ukraine.
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As global warming melts Arctic ice, the region is being opened to increased commercial activity like shipping, mining and drilling. And along with human activity comes foreign policy and military strategy. Strategists in the Navy and throughout the government are scrambling to put policies in place, develop technology and create a plan of action for this burgeoning region of commercial activity.
[ More ]Russia possesses the world's most Arctic shoreline, water, and operating resources. But the United States is also an Arctic nation, even if much of the American public tends to under-appreciate this special status. With frigid international tensions and the severe impacts of climate change swirling like a perfect polar storm, the United States can't afford to ignore the opportunities and obligations that come with being one of the world's few Arctic nations.
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Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced recently Malaysia’s decision to endorse the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI).
[ More ]With the Arctic Ocean warming at an alarming rate, the enhanced ability of foreign vessels to navigate through the region is putting a greater demand on the U.S. Coast Guard to confront what may be the newest threat to U.S. national security.
[ More ]A group of Siberian scientists has claimed that the Mendeleev Ridge in the Arctic Ocean is part of Russia's continental shelf, paving the way for a Russian claim to vast mineral resources found in the Arctic.
[ More ]The development of Arctic energy resources poses the potential for an energy security competition between the Great Powers and Arctic stakeholders that will alter the geopolitical climate. New shipping lanes could alter the world economy as trade routes become faster and safer, but will also become a source of conflict. As world populations and energy consumption increases and supplies decrease, states will seek to maximize interests out of Arctic exploration.
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Plans to open the world's first mine in the deep ocean have moved significantly closer to becoming reality. A Canadian mining company has finalised an agreement with Papua New Guinea to start digging up an area of seabed.
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