Arctic Security

Army Tackles Arctic Challenges Alongside European Allies , by Mikayla Easley, August 2, 2022 in National Defense Magazine . The author covers the renewed emphasis on Arctic operations by the US Army, including the Army's 2021 strategy document,  Regaining Arctic Dominance: The US Army in the Arctic . During a discussion of Army strategy at a recent defense defense exhibition in Paris, Maj. Gen. Peter Andrysiak, deputy commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, stated, " “We have a significant gap in operating in areas of extreme cold, … in high levels of snowfall and in mountainous terrain,” Closing this gap is critical in the face of expanded Arctic presence and operations by Russian and China. France and Finland have facilities that allow regular large-scale training in Arctic conditions. The US Army in the 1990s did the same in Alaska, when I graduated from the mountain warfare course at the Black Rapids Training Site, operated by the Northern Warfare Training Center at Ft....

Exploring Gaps in Arctic Governance: Identifying Potential Sources of Conflict and Mitigating Measures  is a 2021 RAND report by Benjamin Sacks et al. Together with an interactive map,  Potential Drivers of Crises in the Arctic , it explores "six categories of potential conflict catalysts": Russia's central role in Arctic access; Increasing safety and environmental risks; The Arctic as a gray zone; Challenges to the current rules of Arctic governance; China's increased economic and political involvement in the Arctic, and; Uncertainty about Greenland's geopolitical future. The authors identify "three key governance gaps in relation to these catalysts": Limited dialogue and transparency on military issues; Limited capability to execute governance agreements, and; Tension between the growing need for inclusivity and Arctic states' interests. The report finds that "Such gaps do not themselves create conflict but could provide an opportunity or a mo...

A U.S. Security Strategy for the Arctic was posted to War on the Rocks by David Auerswald on May 27, 2021. Auerswald is a professor of security studies at the U.S. National War College in Washington, DC. In the article Auerswald details the geopolitical competition in the Arctic from Russia and China, the shortcomings of the current patchwork US approach, and he promotes three goals for a reinvigorated US Arctic security strategy: Deter military attacks against U.S. or allied territory originating from the Arctic Prevent China or Russia from weakening existing rules-based Arctic governance through coercion, and; Prevent regional hegemony by either China or Russia. Auerswald promotes a three-pronged strategy to accomplish these goals: Develop military capabilities for use in the North American and European Arctic subregions and then demonstrate the ability to use them in harsh Arctic conditions; Persuade regional allies and partners that the United States can be a trusted security pa...