Russia crazy for the Arctic

The Russians have started to make their moves to secure vast stretches of the Arctic for Russia. Their current leadership seems to know only one behaviour -- aggression -- and so far it has worked for them. Bullying gets them their way. And that's the approach they seemed inclined to take with the Arctic. They are resurrecting military stations, and proposing plans to develop the Arctic. According to Spiegel Online, leaks of a strategic document intones, "It cannot be ruled out that the battle for raw materials will be waged with military means."

The military is key to Russia exerting influence in the region. Already, its aircraft is buzzing off the coast of Norway, in addition to an increase in naval presence in the Arctic Ocean. Russia also speaks of its preparedness for Arctic warfare. Not to be outdone, the Americans and British have held naval war games in the Arctic Ocean; and Canada, Denmark and Norway feebly send their toy navies into the region to assert their claims in the region.

Russia intends to have 1.2 million square kilometres more territory as a result of its proposed border expansion into the Arctic. If they're successful, the economic benefits and the ecological damage will be tremendous. Russia plans to pillage for oil, gas and minerals there. Right now the first obstacle in their way is the UN's Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. If Russia can prove that their continental shelf reaches into the Arctic, their borders will expand. If Russia loses there, escalation in tensions will most likely occur.

Another cold war may be coming.