Racing for the Arctic with a Strategy of Restraint

• Main Authors: Reich, Simon, Dombrowski, Peter
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Cornell University Press 2018
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501714627.003.0008

This chapter examines the shift from a traditional strategy of isolationism to an embryonic variant of a strategy of retrenchment (called “restraint”) in the Arctic region. The Arctic is an area where environmental and economic (natural resources) concerns dominate the US agenda. Security considerations such as contested sovereignty – and the question of what proponents of a strategy of restraint call “chokepoints” – are generally neglected. The chapter therefore begins with a vignette about the Russians planting a titanium flag on the bed of the Arctic Ocean as the segue to a broader discussion of the strategic implications of the ice melt. We focus on the emergence of a new “commons;’” the development of new chokepoints that American strategists currently debate; and the lack of desire (and capacity) of the US Navy to take on this new role.