Climate Change Impact on Arctic Activities and Behaviors

• Main Author: Touzinsky, Karina
• Other Authors: Stout, Mark, Clark, Sarah, O'Byrne, Sarah
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Johns Hopkins University 2020
• Subjects: Arctic; security cooperation; near-Arctic state; navigable waters; Breaker; Climate change
• Online Access: http://jhir.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/62780

This research study assesses how water navigability affects Arctic Circle security cooperation through the question: how does the increase in Arctic navigability affect security cooperation in the region? Several publications are discussing why countries should increase their activities, whether military or diplomatic, but they do not address how security cooperation has shifted over the last several years due to the increase in navigable waters. Previous works fail to address how countries should behave with one another in the Arctic region and why they should or should not work with one another. This research addresses the fundamental issue of ice-shrinkage, leading to a surge in navigable waters, which could lead to the need for countries to work with one another to establish security cooperation in the region. This study incorporates data from non-governmental organizations, governmental organizations, press conferences, and other published documents that discuss Arctic activities. Russia, China, and the United States are all interested in the Arctic Circle for different strategic purposes. With the rise of navigable waters, security cooperation could play an essential role in establishing dominancy in the region, playing into the larger global topic: great power competition. The United States should view it as an opportunity to exert leadership in a mostly uncharted region. The United States is limiting itself by not investing more resources in an ice-breaker fleet, and it will not be seen as a strategic partner to others if it cannot operate independently in the region, effectively rendering the United States impotent in the Arctic.