By Ayiana Allen

Faculty Mentor: Jason Davidson

Abstract

The Arctic has increasingly become a focal point of the United States’ security policy. Climate change has opened maritime routes that were previously inaccessible year-round, thus creating new opportunities for trade, resources, and military movement. The region holds highly demanded resources, including oil, natural gas, and minerals such as copper, nickel, zinc, and rare earth minerals. Access to these resources, while difficult and time-consuming to extract, has become more accessible due to climate change than before, often through mining and drilling, thereby increasing the Arctic’s strategic value. As a result, U.S. adversarial powers, particularly China and Russia, have expanded their economic and military attention toward the region. Growing Sino-Russian cooperation and military activity in the Arctic indicates the Arctic’s shift away from a purely environmental issue and toward strategic space for adversarial competition. This raises a central question: what policy approach should the United States pursue to secure its Arctic security interests?