polarizing the north pole and its energy riches

8/9/2019 Polarizing the North Pole and Its Energy Riches

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Polarizing the North Pole and

its Energy Riches

Aaron Gluck

North Pole

Throughout human history, the Arctic has had littletrouble retaining its reputation for austere beauty.

However as the irreversible effects of global climatechange continue to negatively impact ecosystemsworldwide, the once ice blanketed region is rapidlymelting away. This climatic shift has caused unexpectedpolitical tension between several northern nations.


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At the same time, according to the United StatesGeological Survey (USGS) as much as 90 billion barrels ofoil and 1,670 trillion cubic feet of natural gas may beavailable for extraction beneath the ice barrier. The

United States, Canada, Norway, and Russia are at odds asthey compete for access to the potential wealth.

When American politicians debate drilling in the ArcticNational Wildlife Refuge, they must realize that the 7.7billion barrels of oil and the 3.5 trillion cubic feet ofnatural gas to be found there pales in comparison to whatthe Arctic almost certainly has to offer. In a world wherelarge energy consumers are scrambling for every lastdrop of oil they can find and energy resource exportersdesire to maintain their hegemony on the political-economic ladder, any source of oil is worth pursuing, nomatter how high the cost of extraction.

Despite the still debated status of the Arctic Circlessovereignty arrangement, it represents a more desirablearea to extract oil in contrast to the complicated

diplomatic and geopolitical dealings with the Middle East,Africa, and Latin America.

Breaking the Ice, Laying a Groundwork for Today

Dating back as far as the Vikings colonization of Iceland,Greenland, and small coastal settlements in Canada,humans have tried venturing northward to their limits. Ithas not been until the last several hundred years thatefforts were made to explore and discover the extremely

harsh environment of the North Pole. Laying claim to theArctic Circle has been a constant theme in internationalpolitics since exploration of the area began. The issue hasreacquired international importance to the worldscommercial and environmental interests in the wake ofan ever-dwindling supply of fossil fuels.


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Russia and the United Kingdom led the initial push toestablish defined sectors of ownership of the Arctic Circle.

The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1825 delineated theterritorial boundaries between Britains adjacent

territories in Canada and Russias Alaskan holdings basedon the 141st meridian. Forty-two years after the signingof the Anglo-Russian Convention, the United Statesbought much of Russias position when it purchasedAlaska from the Kremlin in 1867. As more states acquiredgrounds to lay title to the Arctic, it became necessary tocreate a clearer basis for territorial claims.

At the African Conference of Berlin in 1884, territorialsovereignty was defined as the so-called right todiscovery to the principle of effective occupation. Thetreaty set an international standard for territorialacquisition just as the Treaty of Westphalia defined thecharacteristics of a sovereign nation-state at theconclusion of the Thirty Years War in 1648. Canadas firstdeclaration of effective occupation occurred during the1896 Klondike Gold Rush when Ottawa sent a quarter of

its armed forces to patrol the Yukon.

The right to discovery clause within the BerlinConference formulations provided a frameworkagreement that invoked a period of frenzied Canadianexploration. The Arctic became highly romanticized inCanadian culture, which appealed to the countrys spiritof adventure and its sense of expansionism based ondiscovery. Captain-turned-explorer J.E. Bernierrepresented Canadas newly vested sense of missionwhen he drew maps to assert Canadas claim over theNorthwest Passage to facilitate his efforts to reach theNorth Pole throughout the early 1900s.


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Despite the fact that his efforts to reach the North Polewere never fully successful, his contributions remained anintegral part of early Canadian manifestations in itsattempts to register its claims to the Arctic. His repeated

gestures of inviting Canadian scientists aboard his vessel,while at the same time claiming islands in the name ofCanada, represented his desire to legitimize the newlyexpansionist countrys claims to the Arctic. At the sametime, in contravention of Canadas claims to the Arctic,the U.S. Congress funded expeditions undertaken byRobert Peary and Frederick Cook whose adventureslasted from the 1890s to 1909. The American pioneering

spirit meant that this country at least had to try to reachthe North Pole first.

A Cold Race

Despite the heavy investment in the race to claim theArctic, it would be almost fifty years before expeditionsbegan to garner any serious, sustained, internationalinterest. Between 1900 and 1950, two ravenous world

wars engulfed the globe, diverting international interestsand wresting attention away from any northernambitions. At the conclusion of World War II, a newlypolarized world had emerged as the Soviet Union and theUnited States became the two dominant superpowers ofthe 20th century. The Arctic Circles appeal once againquickly turned from a land of romance and adventure tothe most frigid battlefield of the Cold War. For the UnitedStates and Canada, the Arctic became a new geopoliticalvenue upon which to focus.

The Bering Sea offered the shortest passage between theUnited States and the former Soviet Union, and traversingit represented a serious geopolitical threat for bothstates. To curb the threat of a potential strike from Soviet


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intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), the UnitedStates and Canada have cooperated on the constructionof a series of radar based detection systems.

Under the North American Aerospace Defense Command(NORAD), the United States and Canada built the Pinetree Line, the Mid-Canada Line, and the North WarningSystem (still active), and the Ballistic Missile EarlyWarning System, which the United States Air Forcecontinues to operate in order to monitor the Arctic. Thesefacilities have maintained a defensive network thatcomplemented the constant presence of nuclearsubmarines and bombers in the Arctic maintained by theUnited States and NATO to counter Soviet forces.5,Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early1990s, the military presence in the Arctic dissipated;however, the Arctic remains an integral part of thenational defense grid for the United States, Canada, andRussia.

Current Complexities of Arctic Sovereignty

To help alleviate territorial water issues, the UnitedNations (UN) created the UN Convention on the Law ofthe Sea (UNCLOS). According to the UNCLOS guidelines,territorial waters can extend 12 nautical miles from theshoreline, while exclusive economic zones (EEZ) canextend 200 nautical miles along the continental shelf. If anation can prove its continental shelf extends further,then it can extend its respective EEZ an additional 150

nautical miles.9 The EEZ allows the nation exclusiveprivileges to exploit the regions resources. To establishthese extended sovereignty rights, a nation must collectscientific data to prove the extension of the continentalshelf and submit it to the UN to be voted on by statesthat have ratified the treaty as per UNCLOS terms.9 Even


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though these procedures and definitions seemdemocratic and fair, a number of inherent problemspersist that have emerged from their application.

The primary issue with territorial acquisition in the ArcticCircle is that UNCLOS does not provide explicit definitionsof how to address EEZ overlaps in circular-based terrain.Moreover, the establishment of a claim over the Arctic byother states has been further complicated due to the factthat the United States has yet to ratify the Law of the Sea

Treaty. The opposition in Congress believes that ratifyingthe treaty would result in ceding American sovereignty tointernational authorities and environmental groups. Theopposition further argues that ratification would alsoprove redundant because the United States alreadyadheres to many of the UNCLOS provisions.

However, without the United States ratification, thiscreates cognitive problems for both the internationalcommunity and for Washington, as the United States, ineffect, voids its voting privileges. Without voting, the

United States mutes its right for others to acknowledgeoversight concerning economically viable territories withinternational recognition being affected. In order forinternational comity to be advanced as well as theArctics long-term status to be resolved, it is imperativefor the United States to act accordingly by becoming afull signatory (which Secretary of State Hilary Clintonstated was a priority in her January 13, 2009 confirmationhearing).

Gas and Geopolitics: An Ottawa and WashingtonAffair

Arctic sovereignty arguably encompasses largerimplications for Canadian and American projections oftheir interests. In terms of claiming territory where there


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is a high probability of finding natural gas and oil, theBeaufort Sea falls within the two countries EEZs.According to the USGS, the Beaufort Sea area alone isestimated to contain approximately 8.22 billion barrels of

oil and 27.64 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. For theUnited States to continue to satisfy its domesticrequirements, it becomes imperative to guarantee themost territory possible by having its maritime border runperpendicular to the coast. As for Canada, splitting theBeaufort Sea along the 141st meridian would provide itwith a major economic advantage by allowing it tomaintain its energy exporting status. This would be

especially important since the United States plans to cutback on oil imports produced from Canadas oil sands inthe wake of Canadas new environmental policies. Bysecuring more oil and natural gas from the Beaufort Sea,new American refineries would replace exports that willnot be available from Albertas oil sands.

Another major theater of Canadian-Americanengagement revolves around control of the Northwest

Passage. For the first time in recorded history, theNorthwest Passage was ice free in 2007. This trend willmost likely continue for longer stretches of time, as theArctic is expected to have ice free summers by 2013,which will afford the single biggest breakthrough inpotential maritime expansion of trade since thedevelopment of the Suez and Panama Canals.

By using the Northwest Passage, 5,000 nautical mileswould instantaneously disappear from Asia-Europeanshipping routes. Because this passage is within the 200nautical mile zone, the Northwest Passage falls directlyunder Canadian jurisdiction, drastically increasingshipping traffic off of Canadas northern coast. The United


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States, on the other hand, disagrees with Canadasassessment of its territorial rights and insists that theNorthwest Passage should be considered internationalwaters to facilitate international trade and to allow the

U.S. military to freely navigate and conduct operations inthe area without meddling in Canadian territorial waters.

In response to Washingtons demands to make thepassage an international waterway, Senior AdministrativeOfficer of Canadas northernmost settled community,Resolute, Josh Hunter said, If the Americans try to comethrough unwanted, well be out there on our snowmobilesblocking their passage. To show Canadian commitmentto the cause under an use it or lose it attitude, PrimeMinister Harper ordered the construction of six to eightnew patrol ships dedicated to policing the Arctic, andrequires that every ship entering into the NorthwestPassage register with the Canadian Coast Guard. As therace to claim the resources in the Arctic gainsmomentum, Canadian versus American competitionappears to be heating up.

A Continuation of Friendship

Despite incidents of non-cooperation, there is still plentyof room for Canada and the United States to perpetuatetheir bonds as allies when it comes to a unified responseto bold diplomatic steps taken by Russia. In a similarspace-age symbol of power, a Russian expedition to theNorth planted a Russian flag on the Arctic seabed where,

according to GPS coordinates, the geographic North Polelies. In a practice that harkens back to the Cold War era,long-range bomber patrols on 20 hour flights as well asthe redeployment of naval fleets to the Arcticdemonstrate how the Russian government intends toretain its possessions. A resolution of Arctic jurisdiction


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will improve bonds not only between Canada, the UnitedStates, and its NATO allies, but also with Moscow, as well.

Just as the Cold War augmented prompt Canadian-

American cooperation with the creation of NORAD, theseprovocations by Russia can serve to create another set ofcooperative arrangements between Washington andOttawa. Furthermore, according to Dr. ValurIngimundarson, an Associate Professor of History andChairman of the History Department at the University ofIceland, Russias particular behavior would be a greatopportunity for other Atlantic states, like Iceland, toimprove their relations with NATO and provide furtherfronts for inter-NATO cooperation. With the Russiansacting in an allegedly suspicious manner, NATOmembers, especially Canada and the United States haveeven more incentive to mutually strengthen their tiesthrough collaboration.

One of Canadas biggest concerns regarding Arcticsovereignty deals with ownership over the Northwest

Passage. Although Canada and the United States havealready expressed political discontent, there is still hopeto come to a mutually beneficial agreement. The Rush-Bagot Treaty of 1818 and the Arctic CooperationAgreement are perhaps the best examples of such anarrangement. The Rush-Bagot Treaty demilitarized andestablished clear regulations concerning the presence ofweapons in the Great Lakes region, facilitating friendlyborder relations between the two neighboring countries.

Furthermore, the treaty grew to promote interagencycooperation by utilizing border patrols to preventsmuggling through the Great Lakes. The ArcticCooperation Agreement, signed by President RonaldReagan and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in


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1988, allowed for the United States Coast Guard to patrolthe Northwest Passage as long as it notifies Canada.Canada can provide for the Coast Guard bases along itslong stretch of border while the United States can provide

the manpower, equipment, and supplies to maintaincontinuous patrols. By sharing the burden, Canada will beable to maintain a significant amount of control overOttawas long stretch of wilderness, while the UnitedStates would have its security concerns adequatelyaddressed.

Going to the Cleaners

The largest oil deposits are often located in extremeenvironments, ranging from the tropics of South Americato the deserts of the Middle East. With the diminution ofthe Arctic ice cap, the world will begin to look to theArctic for potential energy reserves and, as such, mustfind a way to peacefully divide the natural resources inthe newly available territory. This is absolutely crucial toavoid potential large scale security dilemmas. In light of

the inadequate territorial definitions laid down byUNCLOS regarding EEZs in circular-based terrain as wellas the United States failure to ratify UNCLOS, it isapparent that changes to the treaty are not only prudentbut critical. These international jurisdictional issues wouldseem to provide another opportunity for cooperationbetween Canadian, Russian, and American officials foreconomic, military, and political reasons. Whetherconcerning oil, natural gas, or rites of passage, the UnitedStates has to compromise in order to improve relationswith its faithful neighbor to the north and its formerenemy to the west.

Aaron Gluck is a researcher for theCouncil onHemispheric Affairs, from where this article is adapted.
http://www.coha.org/http://www.coha.org/http://www.coha.org/http://www.coha.org/


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polarizing the north pole and its energy riches

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