[...]... prices rise, 13 14 The Arctic Gold Rush despite their massive setbacks in the global economic downturn that began in 2008, then so too will the temptation grow for governments to resort to military force and seize the world’s diminishing natural resources for themselves And the bitter civil wars that are being fought in some parts of the world, notably West Africa, are said to illustrate the bloody outcome... employment’.11 For many governments – not just those whose own territory extends beyond the Arctic Circle – what matters most, at least for the moment, are the region’s natural resources and their accessibility to them Above all, many experts have long been convinced that the Arctic Ocean has resources on a vast scale and recognized that the gradual thaw of its ice is now making them accessible for the first... military force to seize control of Arctic resources Certainly some countries in the region consider the prospect of armed confrontation over the Arctic to be a real one In 2008, the Norwegian media obtained a copy of a leaked report from the chief of the armed forces that considers just such a scenario, quoting General Sverre Diesen of the Norwegian 16 The Arctic Gold Rush military as saying that there... and American forces can establish themselves in a way that the other would find highly provocative, or even intolerable.24 Why, then, are the Arctic s waters and territories more likely than anywhere else to become a future danger zone? Most importantly, the regional presence of highly valued natural 22 The Arctic Gold Rush resources will give countries from all over the globe (not just the Arctic Five’)... rival, whose natural resources it is perhaps desperate to seize, then it is plausible to argue that the Arctic could perhaps be the setting for this form of ‘resource war’ Fortunately, wars rarely break out in this way for the simple reason that very few would-be aggressors have enjoyed the military superiority to start them It is much more usual for countries to work together and counterbalance the overwhelming... be making their way through their waters, but also that foreign governments will have better reason than before to establish a presence there The region is special for the simple reason that there are few other strategically important areas close to the two key members of the Arctic Eight’† – the United States and Russia – where an enemy force could conceivably establish a landed presence Either country... military force to assert its claims over an area that can otherwise only be ‘no man’s land’, or what the 1982 Convention simply refers to as the Area’ that lies ‘beyond the limits of national jurisdiction’ There is one unclaimed stretch of Arctic seabed that lies beyond the theoretical maximum limits of the outer continental shelves of each of the Arctic Five’ It will therefore be administered as the. .. spokesman for the Arctic and Antarctic Institute in Moscow, told one international news agency ‘It was the first ever dive of manned vehicles under the Arctic ice We now know that we can perform this task.’ But unlike the space race of the post-war years, or earlier trips to the North and South Pole, this journey had been more than personal achievement and national prestige The explorers, and their supporters... for ownership of areas in the Norwegian Sea, the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean that cover 100,000 square miles It submitted its own case to the UN in November 2006, exactly 10 years after signing up to the 1982 Convention and just within the deadline that the treaty demands.9 But there was also another, more emotive, reason for the Arctic mission In a matter of mere hours, dramatic pictures of the. .. and defence interests’ in the Arctic, and why Chilingarov, a close confidant of the Russian president, has also declared that the Arctic is ours and we should manifest our presence’ The Arctic 2007 expedition was playing an important part in this great game for the Arctic in two distinct ways On the one hand, the explorers had taken some geological samples from the seabed that they hoped would provide . alt="" THE ARCTIC GOLD RUSH To Claire P. The Arctic Gold Rush The New Race for Tomorrow’s Natural Resources ROGER HOWARD Continuum UK Continuum US The Tower. The Arctic Thaw 25 Chapter 3: The Great Explorers 35 Part 2: The Issues 43 Chapter 4: Who Owns the Arctic? 45 Chapter 5: Black Gold 62 Chapter 6: The Arctic s