l09 geopolitics of oceans conflict

IB Geography: Oceans and their Coastal Margins

IB Oceans and their Coastal Margins

B4 – Geopolitics of Oceans - Conflict


Scramble for the Arctic


NationState~25%

International Space~75%

ARCTIC OCEAN STATE-CHANGES:NATIONAL INTERESTS AND COMMON INTERESTS

Paul Arthur BerkmanArctic Ocean Geopolitics Programme

Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge


ARCTIC OCEAN


SOVIET PRESIDENT MIKHAIL GORBACHEV – SPEECH IN MURMANSK AT THE CEREMONIAL MEETING ON THE OCCASION OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE ORDER OF LENIN AND THE GOLD STAR TO THE CITY OF MURMANSK Murmansk, 1 October 1987 “The community and interrelationship of the interests of our entire world is felt in the northern part of the globe, in the Arctic, perhaps more than anywhere else. For the Arctic and the North Atlantic are not just the "weather kitchen", the point where cyclones and anticyclones are born to influence the climate in Europe, the USA and Canada, and even in South Asia and Africa. I would like to invite, first of all, the countries of the region to a discussion on the burning security issues. The potential of contemporary civilization could permit us to make the Arctic habitable for the benefit of the national economies and other human interests of the near-Arctic states, for Europe and the entire international community. Let the North of the globe, the Arctic, become a zone of peace. Let the North Pole be a pole of peace.”


ENVIRONMENTAL STATE-CHANGE


EMERGING COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES

FIGURE 7: Shipping routes in the Arctic Ocean in 2004 based on eleven commercial vessel types among approximately 6000 vessels. Major fishing activities, with more than 5000 fishing vessel days, occurred in the Large Marine Ecosystems (Fig. 2) of the: East Berring Sea, Barents Sea, West Greenland Shelf, East Greenland Shelf, Norwegian Sea, Iceland Shelf Sea and Farroe Plateau. Adapted from the 2009 Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment.


INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS IN THE ARCTIC


FIGURE 6: Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) test in the Arctic. Data through 2007 [1] has associated information about the missile types, apogees, sites and missions. The 2009 SLBM launches were reported in Ria Novosti. [2] This figure shows a total of 133 SLBM tests in the Arctic.

[1] http://www.astronautix.com/sites/acrocean.htm[2] Russia test launches second Sineva ballistic missile in two days. RiaNovosti 18 July 2009. (http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20090714/155525416.html)

“BURNING SECURITY ISSUES”

http://www.astronautix.com/sites/acrocean.htm

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20090714/155519060.html


ARCTIC GOVERNANCE – INSTITUTIONAL INTERPLAY


OIL AND GAS ESTIMATES

2009 - United States Geological Survey“…the Arctic may contain about 30% of the world’s undiscovered gas and 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil… about 618 BBO [billion barrels of oil] … with a high probability (>95%chance) that more than 770 TCF [trillion cubic feet] of gas occurs north of the Arctic Circle.”

Science 324:1175-1179

1974 – Unites States Geological Survey“…45 billion barrels of oil and 115 trillion cubic feet of natural gas” in the Antarctic

Geological Survey Circular 705 (USGS, Reston)

GEOPOLITICAL STATE-CHANGE


Signed: Montego Bay, Jamaica, 10 December 1982Entered into Force: 16 November 1994

Ratification, Accession or Succession: 155+ Nations

UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF THE SEA


NATIONAL INTERESTS

COMMON INTERESTS+

ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY

ARCTIC COUNCIL“Arctic Council should not deal with matters related to military security”

“common arctic issues” - sustainable development and environmental protection


NEEDED: Wisdom to promote cooperation and prevent discord with all tools of diplomacy

“North Pole as a pole of peace.”

l09 geopolitics of oceans conflict

Technology

arctic circle

neararctic states

arctic ocean statechanges

international interests

north pole

pole of peace

environmental security

human interests