Arctic Sovereignty: A Short History

It’s been called the new “Great Game,” but the 21st-century “cold rush” to the Arctic actually began more than 100 years ago. Ever since the first explorers trudged north in search of the Earth’s axis, coastal nations have held designs on the region. The race has heated up in recent years, though, keeping pace with a litany of jaw-dropping oil and gas discoveries. The area is now thought to hold some 13 percent of the world’s untapped oil reserves and up to 30 percent of its undiscovered natural gas. Unlike the Antarctic, which belongs to no one and is governed by international treaty, the Arctic is up for grabs, and the eight countries that ring the region — Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Canada, and the United States — have grown increasingly assertive, holding military exercises and even reopening nearby Cold War-era bases.* The key to unlocking the region’s untold billions, however, may be something far more prosaic: a U.N. treaty that defines where countries are entitled to lay claim to undersea resources. Every Arctic nation has ratified it — well, every nation except the United States.