is the arctic returning to the "era of cold war confrontation" again?
2024-10-04
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reference news network reported on october 4the german news and television channel website published a report on september 29 titled "the cold war in the arctic has long returned." the report is compiled as follows:
nato wants to increasingly expand its presence in the arctic. if there is a war with russia one day, the arctic will be of extremely strategic importance. the west still has much work to do in this vast region.
russia is the most powerful actor in the arctic and has demonstrated this time and time again. in 2007, the kremlin inserted a russian flag into the seabed at a depth of more than 4,000 meters in the arctic to symbolically emphasize russia's sovereignty over the arctic's underground raw materials.
the reason why the frigid arctic has become such a hot military battlefield is because the west and russia are so close here. during the cold war, the two rival groups distrusted each other for decades. both sides have deployed ballistic missile submarines, cruising under thick ice as a deterrent.
after the end of the cold war, the arctic suddenly became less important and mutual military threats disappeared. russia reduced its armaments. after the collapse of the soviet union, the cost of maintaining many military installations and airfields became simply too high. only after russia recovered from the turmoil and consolidated its finances did moscow gradually expand its presence in the arctic again.
starting about 20 years ago, the russian navy once again conducts regular patrols. more than 50 soviet-era arctic military bases have been reactivated, including 13 air force bases, 10 radar stations and 20 border posts. russia has also modernized its northern fleet with new submarines capable of launching long-range nuclear weapons. foreign minister lavrov recently emphasized that russia is "fully prepared" to deal with a conflict with nato in the arctic.
the example of the european part of the arctic shows how important military control of the arctic is in the event of war. nato knows this too and therefore wants to expand its presence in the arctic. the western defense alliance still has a lot of work to do in the region. russia occupies a dominant military position in the arctic. michael paul, an expert at the german science and politics foundation, said in an interview with le monde that the west "has long neglected the arctic in terms of security policy."
washington has recently reached agreements with norway, sweden and finland to allow u.s. troops to use military facilities in the nordic countries. in addition, the united states, canada and finland also hope to cooperate in building new icebreakers. nato hopes to send a signal to russia that nato will act more unitedly and strengthen its presence in the arctic in the future.
