Article content

THULE, Greenland — It was about -30 with the wind chill and the Arctic fox gambolling in the snow near the Top of the World Club on this U.S. air base in northern Greenland was blissfully unaware that a new variant of Washington’s old enemy, Homo Sovieticus, is preparing five new nuclear missile regiments and building or rebuilding 17 Arctic bases on the far side on the North Pole.

But others are paying attention.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Matthew Fisher: Allies wait for greater defence commitment from Canada while Russia militarizes Arctic Back to video

Responding to Russian behaviour in Ukraine and the still-growing threat the Kremlin’s forces pose in the High Arctic, Syria and along a broad arc across Eastern Europe, Barack Obama announced this week that the U.S. would quadruple to $3.7 billion its spending on what used to be, and perhaps still should be called the Cold War.

The defence of the north matters far more than it did a few years ago because, despite serious budget challenges, Russian President Vladimir Putin is spending massively to build up his military forces there. One of Russia’s signature projects is a sprawling base and improved airfield on Alexandra Land. Located at the west end of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, Alexandra Land is situated at 80 degrees north and is only about 1,200 kilometres from Canadian territory.