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The author argues that Russia's Arctic adventures are more about maintaining Putin's standing at home while the country is stuck in Ukraine and battered by global energy trends.
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Royal Dutch Shell PLC is days away from drilling in the Arctic Ocean—betting it can find enough oil to justify the huge risks that keep almost every other competitor out of those icy waters.
[ More ]The Editorial board argues that another reason for the U.S. to ratify UNCLOS is that it would give it more ability to challenge Russia's military expansion into the Arctic.
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Russia has submitted its bid for vast territories in the Arctic to the United Nations, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The ministry said in a statement that Russia is claiming 1.2 million square kilometers (over 463,000 square miles) of Artic sea shelf extending more than 350 nautical miles (about 650 kilometers) from the shore.
[ More ]Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona said that Russia has become a "national security issue" for the U.S. in an interview Friday with Politico's Morning Defense team. His comments were made ahead of a congressional delegation trip he has been planning to the Arctic as a response to a rapidly growing Russian military presence off the coast of Northern Europe.
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The era of deep seabed mining appears to be dawning, fueled by technological advances in robotics and dwindling land-based deposits. Rising demand for copper, cobalt, gold and the rare earth elements vital in manufacturing smartphones and other high-tech products is causing a prospecting rush to the dark seafloor deep beneath the waves.
[ More ]On Thursday, five Arctic nations signed a declaration promising their fishing vessels will stay out of a 1.1 million-square-mile zone in the central Arctic Ocean, an area bigger than the Mediterranean Sea.
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China has made clear that it refuses to accept an international arbitration panel’s ruling against its territorial claims in the South China Sea, but whether that stance leads to increased military tensions between Beijing and the United States or opens the door for broader negotiations is an open question.
[ More ]A group of researchers have called on the International Seabed Authority—which awards mining contracts in international waters—to designate areas as protected habitat in order to counterbalance the negative effects mining operations could have on ocean life.
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