From lethargy to leadership: America's origins and obligations as an arctic nation
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Date
2021
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Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science
Abstract
At present, temperatures in the Arctic are rising twice as fast as the global average. This drastic increase has been the catalyst for a number of vicious cycles that exacerbate climate change, such as the melting of both permafrost and ice sheets. New waterways, opened due to melting ice, have provided access to once impossible to reach resources and brought competing ambitions of both Arctic and non-Arctic nations to the forefront. The prospect of easily accessible resources such as oil, natural gas, and minerals has amplified the issues of territory and ownership in the Arctic with many nations responding with an increase in nationalism and militarization. Outcomes of this geopolitical competition will have consequences that reach far beyond the Arctic. Equally as important are the effects that these rivalries will have on the indigenous groups that live and subsist in the Arctic --many of which have been victims of systematic disenfranchisement and racism. As a result of the purchase of Alaska in 1867, the United States belongs to an exclusive company of nations that own or oversee territory in the Arctic. These eight nations, the United States, Canada, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark (via Greenland), despite sharing the designation of being an Arctic nation, all possess distinct ambitions and interests in the far North. Cooperation, however, is imperative to address the myriad challenges that the Arctic faces in the twenty-first century. In order for the United States to become, and remain, a responsible Arctic ally, I argue, we must first reexamine our origins as an Arctic nation and recognize the connection between the purchase of Alaska and the conquest of the American West. Acknowledging the continued existence of exploitation and colonialism in Alaska is a necessary step the United States must take on the path towards responsibility in the Arctic.