Having (apparently) archived the war in Ukraine and deescalated the one in Syria, there is a place where Moscow doesn’t lower its weapons. It is the Arctic region, where NATO and Russia face off in a simulated war that is cold not only for the climate.
Last week the General Philip Breedlove, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, has put the facts straight. “The Allies are concerned by the militarization of the Arctic now by Russia,” he said during a public hearing. “What we have seen in the Crimea situation, in the Donbass situation and currently in Syria is that Russia has a pattern of putting military forces in the field to set the conditions to negotiate from a position of power”.
Many observers have noted that the intervention in Syria and the war in Donbass are different aspects of the same strategy of power. Putin wants to deal with world powers – in fact, with the United States – with a Kalashnikov in full view on the table. But while the world’s eyes were focused first on Ukraine and then on Syria, the bulk of the Russian military effort unfolded above the 80th parallel. “Russia is now establishing a military capability and capacity in the Arctic”, said Breedlove.
The militarization of the Arctic
NATO has been accused by many of not doing enough to counter Russia in the region. Maybe that’s why the US Navy announced an extensive military exercise, for the first time jointly with Norwegian, British and Canadians forces. NATO sources deny that this is a response to Russia and say, indeed, that the ICEX program – how the maneuvers at the Pole are called – goes on since the Cold War. But it is hard to deny that something is moving in the polar ice.
The militarization of the Arctic by Russia is reaching unprecedented levels. Large scale military drills, a strong political stance and frequent air scramble on the limit (and beyond) the airspace of northern Countries test the western cohesion. Many already fear that Nato wouldn’t be able to repel a Russian military attack at the north European border.
Putin has given the start to a multi-annual program to restore a number of military bases in the Russian far north. Already 10 airfields, in disuse since the days of the USSR, are back in use, bringing the total number of bases in the far north to 14. By the end of 2016 will then be finished the Nagurskoye airfield on the Franz Joseph Land, the northernmost of all. This bas alone is worth an investment of $ 130 million. Meanwhile, in 2015 has been completed the creation of a military super-district, with the entry into operation of the Arctic Command, which controls all the air, land and sea force at the Pole.
All this while proceeding through the courts before the UN Commission on the limits of continental shelf to have the claims on the Pole – the largest reservoir of untapped natural resources – recognized.
Oil and gas Mecca
Dmitry Rogozin, the outspoken Russian Deputy Prime Minister and delegate to politically incorrect affairs (he is Putin’s special representative for the Transnistria, as well newly appointed head of the new Commission on Arctic affairs) tweeted bluntly: “The Arctic is the Russian Mecca”.
According to scientists, the Arctic ice cap has shrunk by 40 percent over the past twenty years and will disappear within a dozen. Pumping oil and gas where there is now ice is no longer impossible. The Arctic is going to be a tough battleground between Russia and the other Arctic countries, especially the United States and Canada. The polar ice is melting fast and is about to release an immense wealth in terms of gas and oil reserves. Experts estimate that 10-15% of all the oil and even in 30% of all the gas not yet discovered are in the Arctic, making it the biggest reservoir of untapped natural resources. The giant state-owned Gazprom has invested billions of dollars in exploration and exploitation projects. Its flagship, which alone cost $ 6 billion, is the Prirazlomnaja project, the giant offshore platform of 2013 Greenpeace affaire.
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Having (apparently) archived the war in Ukraine and deescalated the one in Syria, there is a place where Moscow doesn’t lower its weapons. It is the Arctic region, where NATO and Russia face off in a simulated war that is cold not only for the climate.
