Russia has every opportunity to expand its influence in the Arctic, which is unacceptable for the United States. That means it can entail not only a serious crisis, but also a conflict.
This conclusion was made by Rebecca Pincus, associate professor of strategic and operational research at the United States Naval College.
According to her, such a scenario is quite possible in conditions when the Arctic region has been in the center of political and economic attention. At the same time, she claims that none of the countries supposedly has leadership in the Arctic, believing that only the United States can have such a leadership.
In this regard, Pincus recalled that back in 2002, the Russia-NATO Council was formed, which in this situation can help Washington not miss its chance in the Arctic. The expert suggests intensifying the dialogue with Moscow through the North Atlantic Alliance in order to be able to impose its own position in the Arctic direction.
As News Front previously reported, recently the United States and its NATO allies have been dangerously active in the Arctic, trying to make their own claims to the region. So, a year ago, the alliance launched large-scale exercises called “Trident Juncture” in which more than 50 thousand military personnel, 10 thousand units of equipment, 250 aircraft and 65 ships were involved. However, maneuvers showed that the equipment in the arsenal of NATO countries is often unsuitable for winter conditions.
Moreover, the US position in the struggle for the Arctic is complicated by the lack of icebreakers. At the beginning of the year, the US Coast Guard has already signed a contract for the construction of such a vessel, but its construction will begin only in 2021. Now in its composition there is only one heavy icebreaker, which was commissioned back in 1976.