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North American Integration
and the Militarization of the Arctic
Michel Chossudovsky
Global
Research
Monday Aug 20, 2007
The Battle for the Arctic is part of a global military
agenda of conquest and territorial control. It has been described
as a New Cold War between Russia and America.
Washington's objective is to secure territorial control,
on behalf of the Anglo-American oil giants, over extensive Arctic
oil and natural gas reserves. The Arctic region could hold
up to 25% of the World's oil and gas reserves, according to some
estimates. (Moscow Times, 3 August 2007). These estimates
are corroborated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): "he
real possibility exists that you could have another world class
petroleum province like the North Sea." (quoted by CNNMoney.com,
25 October 2006)
From Washington's perspective, the battle for the
Arctic is part of broader global military agenda.
(Article continues below)
It is intimately related to the process of North American
integration under the Security and Prosperity Partnership Agreement
(SPP) and the proposed North American Union (NAU). The SPP envisages,
under the auspices of a proposed "multiservice [North American]
Defense Command", the militarization of a vast territory extending
from the Caribbean basin to the Canadian Arctic.
It also bears a relationship to America's hegemonic
objectives in different parts of the World including the Middle
East. The underlying economic objective of US military operations
is the conquest, privatization and appropriation of the World's
reserves of fossil fuel. The Arctic is no exception. The Arctic
is an integral part of the "Battle for Oil". It is one of
the remaining frontiers of untapped energy reserves.
The Arctic nations (with territories North of the
Arctic circle) are Russia, Canada, Denmark, the US, Norway, Sweden,
Finland and Iceland. The first three countries (Russia, Canada
and Denmark) possess significant territories extending northwards
of the Arctic circle. (see Map).
Copyright
BBC
Directed against Russia, which is in the process of
claiming part of the Arctic shelf, Washington's Arctic strategy
is tied into a broader process of militarization and territorial
integration.
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
The United States has adopted a unilateral approach
to Arctic development. It has refused to approve the 1982 UN Convention
on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which was ratified by both Russia
and Canada. A United Nations Committee currently administers the
Law of the Sea Convention.
The US transpolar territory is much smaller than that
of Russia, Canada and Denmark. US territories bordering the Arctic
are limited to the North Alaskan coastline, extending from the
Bering straits to the Northeastern Alaskan US-Canadian border.
The US has a number of US military bases and installations in
Alaska. There are several human settlements on the Northern Slope
( Northern Alaska coastline bordering the Arctic Ocean), including
Prudhoe Bay, Barrow and Cape Lisborne. This Northern Slope
is rich in oil. It was among the first areas of development of
Arctic oil. The Alaskan pipeline links Prudoe Bay on the
North Slope to the port of Valdez in Prince William Sound on the
Gulf of Alaska.
Russia
Russia, in contrast, has by far the largest border
with the Arctic, from the Northwestern city of Murmansk on the
Russian-Finnish border, extending over the entire Northern Siberian
region, to the Bering Straits, which separate Alaska from the
Russian Federation. Murmansk is the largest city north of
the Arctic Circle, with a population of more than 400,000 inhabitants.
In other words, a large part of the Russian continental shelf
borders the Arctic.
Russia, going back to the Soviet era, had established
scientific-military stations on the island of Northern Zemlya
as well as in the Francois Joseph archipelago (Franz Josef Land),
which is also under Russian jurisdiction. (See map.) Northern
Zemlya was used during the Soviet era for underground nuclear
testing.
Russia is now claiming sovereignty (under the International
Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS) of a vast 1,191,000
sq km territory which is part of the Arctic shelf.
This territory claimed by Russia submitted to the
UN Committee that administers UNCLOS is said to contain substantial
hydrocarbon reserves, on the Arctic seabed:
The 1982 International Convention on the Law of
the Sea (UNCLOS) establishes a 12 mile zone for territorial
waters and a larger 200 mile economic zone in which a country
has exclusive drilling rights for hydrocarbon and other resources.
Russia claims that the entire swath of Arctic seabed in the
triangle that ends at the North Pole belongs to Russia, but
the United Nations Committee that administers the Law of the
Sea Convention has so far refused to recognize Russia’s claim
to the entire Arctic seabed.
In order to legally claim that Russia’s economic zone in the
Arctic extends far beyond the 200 mile zone, it is necessary
to present viable scientific evidence showing that the Arctic
Ocean’s sea shelf to the north of Russian shores is a continuation
of the Siberian continental platform. In 2001, Russia submitted
documents to the UN commission on the limits of the continental
shelf seeking to push Russia's maritime borders beyond the 200
mile zone. It was rejected.
Now Russian scientists assert there is new evidence that Russia’s
northern Arctic region is directly linked to the North Pole
via an underwater shelf. Last week a group of Russian geologists
returned from a six-week voyage to the Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater
shelf in Russia's remote eastern Arctic Ocean. They claimed
the ridge was linked to Russian Federation territory, boosting
Russia's claim over the oil- and gas-rich triangle.
The latest findings are likely to prompt Russia to lodge another
bid at the UN to secure its rights over the Arctic sea shelf.
If no other power challenges Russia’s claim, it will likely
go through unchallenged. (See Vladimir
Frolov, Global Research, July 2007)
Russia is basing its claim on the grounds that this
portion of the Arctic sea shelf is connected to Russia's continental
shelf, through the 2000 km long underwater Lomonosov
ridge. "According to Russian media, the physical connection
to the Russian intercontinental shelf means that the ridge is
technically a part of Russia, and therefore open to exploitation."
( http://www.oilmarketer.co.uk/2007/07/04/russia-seeks-un-approval-on-artic-oil-grab/
The Strategic Role of Canada and Denmark's Arctic
Territories
After Russia, Canada and Denmark have the largest
transpolar territories.
To effectively challenge and encroach upon Russian
territorial claims in the Arctic, Washington requires not only
the collaboration of Canada and Denmark, but also jurisdiction
over their respective Northern territories, which are considered
by Washington as strategic from both a military and economic standpoint.
The US has a military presence in both Canada and
Denmark (Greenland). Both countries play an important role in
Washington's Arctic strategy.
Canada's territory, extends northwards to the Queen
Elizabeth archipelago which includes Ellesmere Island bordering
onto the Sea of Lincoln, which is part of the Arctic Ocean. Ellesmere
Island is part of the Canadian territory of Nunavut.
Alert on Ellesmere Island (located at 82°28'N, 62°30'W)
is considered the northernmost human settlement in the world.
In practice it operates as a military intelligence station (Canadian
Forces Station Alert) is under the jurisdiction of the Canadian
military. CFS Alert is 840 km from the North Pole.
The militarization of the Arctic is part of the process
of North American integration under the Security and Prosperity
Partnership Agreement (SPP). The proposed North American
Union (NAU) constitutes a means for the US to extend its sovereignty
over Canada's Arctic territories.
When the creation of US Northern Command was announced in April
2002, Canada accepted the right of the US to deploy US troops
on Canadian soil, extending into its Arctic territories:
"U.S. troops could be deployed to Canada and Canadian
troops could cross the border into the United States if the
continent was attacked by terrorists who do not respect borders,
according to an agreement announced by U.S. and Canadian officials."
(Edmunton Sun, 11 September 2002)
In April 2006, Canada formally ratified a renewed
North American Aerospace Defense Agreement (NORAD), ("renewed
NORAD"), which allows the US Navy and Coast Guard to deploy
American war ships in Canadian territorial waters including its
Arctic seabed territories. (For further details, see Michel
Chossudovsky, Canada's
Sovereignty in Jeopardy: The Militarization of North America,
Global Research, August 2007)
Greenland
Greenland, which is under Danish jurisdiction, constitutes
a sizeable landmass bordering the Arctic Ocean.
The Thule Air Force base in Northern Greenland is
under the jurisdiction of the US Air Force 821st Air Base Group.
It constitutes the US's northernmost military facility
(76°32′N,
68°50′W). The military base lies approximately
1118 km north of the Arctic Circle and 1524 km south of the
Terrestrial
North Pole. The Thule base is 885 km east of the
North Magnetic
Pole.
The Thule US Air Force base also "hosts the 12th
Space Warning Squadron, a Ballistic Missile Early Warning
Site designed to detect and track Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
(ICBMs) launched against North
America."
The Thule base links up to NORAD and US Northern Command
headquarters at the Peterson Air Force base in Colorado. The Thule
base is also "host to Detachment 3 of the 22d
Space Operations Squadron, which is part of the 50th
Space Wing's global satellite control network."
Denmark is member of NATO, firmly allied with the
US. Both Danish and Canadian territory will be used by the US
to militarize the Arctic. Denmark has also been a firm supporter
of the Bush administration's military agenda in the Middle East.
Canada's Arctic Military Facilities
Ottawa's July 2007 decision to establish a military
facility in Resolute Bay in the Northwest Passage was not intended
to reassert "Canadian sovereignty. In fact quite the opposite.
It was established in consultation with Washington. A deep-water
port at Nanisivik, on the northern tip of Baffin Island is also
envsaged.
The US administration is firmly behind the Canadian
government's decision. The latter does not "reassert Canadian
sovereignty". Quite the opposite. It is a means to eventually
establish US territorial control over Canada's entire Arctic region
including its waterways.
Under the renegotiated North American Aerospace
Defense Agreement (NORAD), the US military has access to
Canada's domestic territorial waters including Canada's sea shelf
with the Arctic, which coincidentally also provides Washington
under the guise of "North American sovereignty" with a justification
to challenge Russia in the Arctic.
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