BUNDESWEHR The changing status quo in the Arctic due to climate change alters the relationship all states maintain to this vast region. As the ice caps recede, the availability of raw material deposits and the increasing navigability of Arctic sea routes become potential sources of non-cooperative behaviour that results from overlapping interests, unresolved territorial disputes and resource conflicts. This is occurring in conjunction with varying threat perceptions among the Arctic states as well as observing nations. Germany’s security and defense policy aims to preserve the Arctic as a largely conflict-free region, promote cooperation and safeguard its peaceful usage. Early detection…
The Watch
HADRIENNE TERRES/FRENCH MINISTRY FOR THE ARMED FORCES France’s commitment to the Arctic arises from an old involvement. The first polar expeditions from Jacques Cartier in the 16th century in the north of Canada led to a long-standing tradition of polar research. Fueled by the work of France’s scientific bases, in both the Arctic and the Antarctic, this scientific involvement resulted in France’s observer status in the Arctic Council in 2000. On top of this scientific interest, the French private sector plays an active role in the Arctic with French companies operating in the region, mainly in the energy and tourism…
NORWEGIAN ARMED FORCES Nearly half of Norway’s land mass is Arctic territory, home to just one-tenth of the country’s population. Norway has a 198-kilometer-long land border with Russia and a substantial maritime border with adjacent international waters and airspace, which naturally results in day-to-day contact with the Russian Federation. For Norway, therefore, foreign and domestic policy converge in the Arctic. Norway’s policy revolves around security, stability, predictability and interest-based international cooperation. In short, “High North – Low Tension.” Peace in the Arctic is one of Norway’s most important foreign policy goals. Russia’s military modernization and increased activity in the north…
MAJ. GEN. JANNE JAAKKOLA/FINNISH DEFENCE COMMAND The security environment in Europe is changing rapidly. We do not know what the outcome and consequences of the current crisis will be. Finland is in a strategically important region. From the military-strategic perspective, increased tensions in another region may rapidly lead to increasing military activities in Northern Europe. The significance of the Baltic Sea, North Atlantic sea lines of communication and the Arctic region to Finland is growing, and military activity in these areas has increased during the past few years. Finland has recently updated its Arctic strategy and also issued a new…
THE WATCH STAFF United States Sailors and Marines joined allies in Iceland for exercise Northern Viking from April 2-14, 2022. Northern Viking, which was led by the U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet as a maritime-focused event for the first time in decades, included France, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom. The multidomain exercise included amphibious landings, expeditionary and construction capability, search and rescue, and humanitarian assistance. “Northern Viking 22 has been incredibly successful for us and for the participating allies,” Icelandic Coast Guard Cmdr. Marvin Ingolfsson, deputy commander of Keflavík Air Base, said in a U.S. Navy news release. “We…
DANISH JOINT ARCTIC COMMAND The Danish government recently published a new foreign and security policy strategy in which the Arctic and North Atlantic region plays an increasingly important role. The Kingdom of Denmark´s Arctic policy is low tension for the benefit of the Arctic states and its population. This policy is being pursued through strengthened cooperation among Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands regarding foreign, security and defense policy and in close cooperation and collaboration with allies and partners in the Arctic, especially the U.S. Over the past five years, the Danish Joint Arctic Command (JACO) has increased its capabilities…
MAJ. SUSAN MAGILL/JOINT TASK FORCE NORTH The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has operated in the Canadian north for more than a century. This vast region encompasses 75% of Canada’s coastlines, almost 8 million square kilometers of land and sea, including 36,563 islands. Over 70 communities exist in our north, but this accounts for only 0.3% of Canada’s population. The effects of climate change, globalization and advanced technologies have increased access and international interest in Canada’s Arctic. While growing activity could create economic benefits for Canada, it could also increase strategic competition, environmental risks, search and rescue requirements, and illegal or…
THE WATCH STAFF The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) recently commissioned three members of the fledgling Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment. The officers, Capt. Dixie Smith, Lt. Jahiem Glinton and Lt. Earl Henry, were the second cohort of Marines from the reservist Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) Regiment to be trained at the British military academy, according to an April 1, 2022, story in the Turks and Caicos Weekly News. Their two months of instruction included a range of military skills and physical training. “It was quite a unique experience … I definitely learned a lot,” Henry told Caribbean news…
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A researcher was convicted on April 7, 2022, of illegally concealing work he was doing for China while employed at the University of Kansas. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson continues to weigh a defense motion, however, to dismiss the case against Feng “Franklin” Tao of Lawrence, Kansas. Jurors found him guilty of three counts of wire fraud and one count of false statements for not disclosing on conflict-of-interest forms that he had been named to a Chinese talent program, the Changjiang Professorship, on grant applications. As part of that program, he traveled to China to set up…
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Facing higher oil prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden is planning to invoke the Defense Production Act to increase the mining of critical minerals for the batteries used in electric vehicles. A person familiar with White House plans said production will occur under strong environmental and labor standards. Greater federal support for alternatives to fossil fuels would reduce the leverage of Russian President Vladimir Putin and others on matters of U.S. national and economic security, though it reflects a long-term play rather than an immediate response to the economic damage caused by the…