Article thumbnail of Arctic Council Meeting, courtesy of the US State Department

Global warming has increased the importance of the Arctic as a new arena for geopolitical tensions. Indeed, the melting of the ice pack has enhanced the value of the northern sea route, reducing travel time between Asia and Europe and facilitating access to raw materials. Such opportunities have led to the Arctic increasingly becoming a potential area of friction between major powers. 

The Arctic Council, created in 1996, is supposed to work on the preservation of the environment in this ecosystem and to set the rules of cohabitation between the nations interested in it. A meeting of the body in Iceland in May, however, was wrought with tension as Russia took over the presidency of this body. On the eve of the meeting, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, described the Arctic as "a zone of Russian economic influence”, claiming that “This is our land.”

This statement doesn’t come as a surprise, as Russia occupies more than half of the Arctic coastal area. This area derives 10% of its gross domestic product from its resources, including natural gas and various minerals. In addition, Russia aims to increase its development of military activity by reopening and developing former Soviet facilities, including radars, missiles and hosting strategic bombers). 

This puts Russia at odds with the other countries involved, including the US, Canada, and the Scandinavian countries. Consequently, the US has organised air exercises with Norway, a NATO country; and France sent a warship there for the first time two years ago to test the cold waters of the far north. This shows that this region is going to be an area of increasing tension at least in the short-term but likely further into the future, too.