Arctic Power Play: US Extends Ocean Claims in 2024 & Intensifies Global Rivalry!

Brace yourself, because as the world greets the new year 2024, fears already arising over the upcoming US revelation. Hello and welcome to my YouTube channel where I unravel Welcome to the Intriguing World of International Geopolitics. Today I delve into the US's groundbreaking announcements for this year 2024 that caught my attention, as Washington has recently made an audacious move as it plans on extending its claims on the ocean floor by an expanse twice the size of California. This bold move or maneuver grants it rights to vast and potentially resource-rich seabeds. While securing valuable minerals is essential to future technologies, concerns emerge aimed questions about the US seeking another conflict front. Surprisingly, this time is not the Middle East, Asia, or Latin America taking the spotlight, It's the Arctic. Why has the US chosen this specific moment? Haven't we witnessed enough global tensions already? Rebecca Pinchas, the director of the Polar Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, rightly captured the significance of this development when she stated, and I quote, "It's a huge deal because it's a huge amount of territory." End of quote. With the US staking its claim over the seabed floor, sovereignty over consequential decisions such as seabed mining, oil and gas leasing, and cable installation firmly rests in their hands. The implications are colossal. Many historians agree that if it weren't for the conflict be they religious or colonial, we would not be talking about the Arctic today. Yet its establishment was the result of these religious and colonial violence. But I am not here to talk in depth about geography of the Arctic, but rather to emphasize that this new historical reality of the Arctic is what paved the way for the establishment of what modern historians do. Arctic states, it includes Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Canada, and the United States. What's interesting, according to Jen Evans, a research associate at the Arctic Institute, she indicated that early conflicts between Arctic nations had ensued mainly between Canada and the United States. These early conflicts influenced the trajectory for Arctic relations. One of the key elements that has always had an impact not only on the geopolitical but also economic trajectory of the Arctic is its abundance of natural resources. Starting in the late 20th century, regional, national, and international organizations increasingly recognized the political and cultural sovereignty of the Arctic people. Right to land and natural resources are an important part of this sovereignty. An agreement between the governments of Canada and Inuit bands, for instance, ultimately resulted in the creation of the territory of Nunavut in 1999. Nunavut, Canada's largest territory, stretches far into the central Canadian Arctic. More than half the population of Nunavut identifies as Inuit. Europeans' and Asians' exploration of the Arctic began with Viking settlements in northern Scandinavian and Iceland in the 900s. Russian explorers navigated the northern sea route of the Northeast Passage and the Siberian Arctic, eventually crossing the Bering Strait in the 1600s. The pursuit of the Northwest Passage, which would save untold time and money in trade between Europe and Asia drove Arctic explorations during the Age of Discovery. The Arctic has enormous deposits of oil and natural gas. In Alaska, many oil companies work with indigenous groups known as, and I put this in quote, "Native corporations," to drill and export millions of barrels of oil every day. Alaska's North Slope contains 6% of the largest oil fields in the United States and one of the 100 largest natural gas fields. Engineers and geographers estimate that oil and gas deposits in the Arctic make up 13% of the world's undiscovered petroleum resources and 30% of undiscovered natural gas resources. The Arctic is also rich in minerals such as nickel and copper ore. Mineral resources also include gemstones and rare earth elements, which are used in batteries, magnets, and scanners. Given the impact of climate change on the security landscape, debates in the West about the future of the Arctic have been launched already. Regardless of different viewpoints, these debates converge on one specific question: are we looking at fresh tensions between the US and Russia in the Arctic? Today's reality has departed drastically from Mikhail Gorbachev's definition of the Arctic in his 1987 Murmansk speech as a zone of peace. The thinking has always been that the Arctic is an area of low political tensions between the East and the West. Today, that picture is different as dynamics in the Arctic are changing by the day. Russia has embarked on exploring the Arctic for two main reasons: one, military, and two, economics. Given the latest fiasco in Ukraine, Russia has already factored into its security equation how the US or NATO presence in the Arctic, if that presence is of a military nature, which I would expect, calculations will be changed for everyone. Furthermore, if NATO or the US deploys advanced military assets, including missiles and submarines, Russia will be forced to reciprocate by deploying its strategic nuclear weapons. Here is my conclusion for you. One thing is sure, the Arctic to Russia is what Berlin was to the West. The great powers competition during the Cold War in Europe will now be replicated in the Arctic in the 21st century, but with one caveat: China is added to the contest. I hope you enjoyed watching this video. Make sure to subscribe to my channel and hit the notification bell to stay updated on the latest information and analysis on global events. If you find this topic as fascinating as I do, give this video a thumbs up and share it with your friends. As always, remember: geopolitics impacts your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time.