Arctic Rivalry May Shape a New Cold War Over Resources
Nunavut, Canada, a region NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited in August to showcase the alliance’s increasing attention to the high north.
Photographer: Galit Rodan/BloombergIn the new Cold War between the West and the Russia-China axis, it hardly gets colder than the Arctic, which recent events show has emerged as a new battleground of geostrategic competition.
Tucked away in February’s joint statement by China and Russia — released just weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — was a pledge for the duo to intensify development of the Arctic, a region rapidly opening up to economic exploitation thanks to global warming. The two also committed to strengthening cooperation on the “development and use of Arctic routes.”