De toekomst van de Arctische regio

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Russia to allocate $63bn for Arctic development

October 19, 2013

The draft version of the program could be submitted to the Cabinet by November 1, RIA Novosti cited Regional Development Minister Igor Slyunyayev as saying on Friday. The comment was made in Moscow at the general assembly of the Northern Forum, which supports sustainable development in areas economically dependent on natural resources.

Major Russian companies are expected to finance more than half the program's cost, while one-third of funding will likely come out of the federal budget. 

Below the ice and cold waters of the Arctic Ocean are hidden vast natural reserves, including approximately 20 percent of oil reserves worldwide and around 30 percent of the planet's natural gas. There are also believed to be deposits of platinum, gold and tin – just for starters.

The untapped natural resources have seen conflicting claims from Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the US in recent years, as exact borders between the sovereign zones which surround the Arctic are far from defined.

Arctic climate change is progressing twice as fast as in the rest of the world. As the Arctic ice cap decreases year by year, the vast natural resources and sea routes become more accessible.

The situation has led to the rise of national Arctic development and has prompted increased military presence in the area - especially on behalf of Canada and Russia. 

Most recently, it has been discovered that the Canadian military has been secretly test-driving a $620,000 stealth snowmobile designed for clandestine operations in the Arctic, The Canadian Press reported.

http://rt.com/business/russia-arctic-development-program-400/

[Harald]

extra info, interessant interview :

Heat over Arctic: 'Oil & gas may fuel militarization of the region'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zgkr6Dnshs

[Harald]

Claim van de Russen omtrent het gebied bij de Noordpool, zie onderstaande kaartje

http://www.heritage.org/~/media/Images/Reports/2010/b2421/b2421_map1_1.ashx?w=600&h=724&as=1


waarschijnlijk olie, gas voorraden :

http://www.uzletahalon.hu/upload/arctic-kett.png

http://www.globalresearch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/arctic_ice_and_deposits.jpg

[Harald]

The Noordpool heeft ook militair gezien een belangrijke functie naast de economische bronnen, zoals olie, gas, metalen die aanwezig zijn.

Je hebt vanaf de noordpool een geheel overzicht van alles wat er in het noorden gebeurt, vanaf Alaska, Groenland, Canada, Japan

Hieronder een mooi artikel over de militaire verkenningsvluchten in de koude oorlog
http://data-freeway.com/plesetsk/overflights.htm

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

The Creeping Militarization of the Arctic

October 16, 2013 / By Abhijit Singh

As stakeholders take increasingly assertive territorial postures, the regional focus turns to security.

Russia's announcement last month that it was considering reopening a major northern naval base and resuming regular naval patrols has revived a debate over the militarization of the Arctic. In early September, a convoy of 10 Russian warships – led by missile cruiser Peter the Great and accompanied by four nuclear-powered icebreakers – completed a voyage across the Arctic Ocean. Starting from Severomorsk near Finland, the ships travelled nearly 2000 miles, reaching Kotelny Island in the Novosibirsk Archipelago, reportedly bringing construction material and personnel needed to reconstruct the old Soviet-era naval base shut down in 1993.

The Russian decision to rebuild a naval facility in the Arctic is a not-so-tacit reminder that as the northern ice-cap melts and critical sea-routes become navigable, Arctic nations will not be able to resist the impulse of militarizing the region. In the past few years, as vast spaces in the Arctic have opened up, a scramble has ensued for the region's undiscovered natural resources (estimated to be 30% of the world's undiscovered natural gas and 13% of its undiscovered oil). This has, in turn, resulted in increasingly assertive territorial postures being adopted by regional stakeholders, and the gradual dominance of a security-driven discourse.

Unsurprisingly, the rising military presence in the Arctic is being increasingly justified by the need to project national influence and sustain claims over the region's sea-lanes and natural resources. When Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the reopening of the new naval base, he noted how important is was for Russia to assert control over the operation of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Even though he did not mention it, Putin's interest in securing the vital sea-lane seems driven by its potential to cut the regular travel time of cargo ships from Europe to Asia by almost a third.

Military Initiatives

More importantly, the latest development has drawn critical attention to the absence of a security framework in the Arctic. Russia has, arguably, been the most militarily active Arctic state. Since 2007, when a mini-sub planted a Russian titanium flag at the base of the North Pole, the Russian Navy has maintained a strategic presence in the Arctic. Its under-sea patrol program will soon be augmented by the new Borey class submarines based on the Barents Sea coast. Equally notable are Russia's power-projection initiatives. In 2012, a large-scale Russian naval exercise was held in the High North that included more than 7000 personnel and about 20 naval units. During the exercise, the Northern Fleet conducted Russia's first-ever amphibious landing on the Arctic archipelago of the New Siberian Islands.

This year in July, Moscow's held a massive exercise in the Russian Far East region – reportedly the biggest "snap-drill" since the era of the Soviet Union. The exercises involved more than 160,000 servicemen, 1000 tanks, 130 planes and 70 ships, and came only a month after Russia submitted a claim to the United Nations to extend its 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone by another 150 miles or 1.2 million square kilometers. Moscow's "scientific evidence," to buttress its contention of the claimed seabed being a continuation of the continental shelf, is bitterly contested by other Arctic nations.

Russia is, however, not the only country with plans to securitize the region. After assuming the presidency of the Arctic Council in May this year, Canada made clear that it will push for a change in the Council's focus so as to seize the economic opportunities arising from the melting of the northern polar ice cap. Its follow-up plan includes initiatives to strengthen its Arctic sovereignty claims and bolster its northern military presence. Interestingly, a study by the Canadian military's operational support command last year had recommended military outposts in the form of basic transportation hubs, after which Ottawa began seriously considering setting up small-but-permanent military presence in remote locations in the Arctic North.

Canada's assertive strategy, however, is not limited to military bases. Since 2007, the Canadian military has held Operation Nanook in the country's north every year. It is an exercise aimed exclusively at exercising Canadian sovereignty. In August this year more than 1,000 personnel from the Canadian Armed Forces took part in Operation Nanook 2013, held at four different locations in the Arctic, purportedly as a counter to Moscow's renewed territorial claims in the Arctic Ocean.

Apart from Nanook, Canada has also been holding two other military drills in the region: Operation Nunalivut in the High Arctic and Operation Nunakput in the western Arctic. Norway, meanwhile, has played its own part in the securitization of the region. In July 2013, it conducted one of the largest Arctic maneuvers ever — Exercise Cold Response – in which more than 16,000 troops from 14 countries are believed to have participated. Despite its landmark pact with Russia over the Barents Sea in 2010, Norway apparently still fears a Russian takeover of the Arctic.

Moscow, meanwhile, appears concerned with the bilateral endeavors of other Arctic countries to press joint claims in the disputed regions. In 2012, Canada and the U.S. reportedly conducted a 42-day joint Arctic expedition to survey the continental shelf – only two weeks after a Russian research vessel was dispatched on a similar mission. Russia also seems anxious about the May 2010 military agreement between Canada and Denmark pledging closer collaboration in the Arctic, spanning the gamut of "consultations, information exchanges, visits, and military exercises." In a sign of solidarity with Canada, Denmark even deployed a unit to participate in the Operation Nunalivut exercise in the High Arctic earlier this year.

While most military developments in the region have concerned the Northern Sea Route, the gradual opening up of the North West passage too might create further tensions. In January 2009, a U.S. Presidential National Security Directive contested – albeit indirectly – Canada's sovereignty claims over part of the Beaufort Sea, also holding the Northwest Passage to have the legal status of "international waters." This month, as a Danish-owned ship, the Nordic Orion, became the first cargo vessel to use the Northwest Passage as an international shipping route, the argument between the U.S. and Canada has been joined again.

Arctic Council Politics

A key reason why security issues are not easily discussed by Arctic Council nations is that five of the eight nations in the group are also NATO members, whose charter commits member states to mutual military assistance. This appears to preclude the possibility of fair and balanced deliberations on the territorial disagreements in the region. For instance, despite Canada's sovereignty disputes with the United States (over the Beaufort Sea) and with Denmark (over the Hans Island), the three NATO partners have been coordinating their military strategies in the Arctic. Their collective participation in this year's Nanook exercises, gives Moscow a sense that NATO countries are ganging up against Russia.

To complicate matters, the Arctic Council is formally prohibited from discussing military security in the Arctic. Members consequently discuss security issues in informal meetings, like the one that took place on a Canadian military base in early 2012. Needless to say, the existing mistrust has prevented any substantive discussion on addressing security concerns in the region.

Securing Asian Interests

Since they were granted "observer" status in May 2013, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea have become more conscious of the politics of the Arctic. Even while recognizing the resource potential of the region and the importance of the North West Passage and the Northern Sea Route in future trade and energy transits, observer states realize that in all matters strictly strategic, it is Arctic Council states that call the shots. Needless to say, the slow militarization of the region is turning out to be the single biggest cause of worry among external stakeholders – especially against the backdrop of an increasingly conspicuous Chinese presence. The developments on the security front are being perceived as an indication that the future militarization of the Arctic will be marked by a growing desperation among Arctic states to stake control over the region's resources and sea lanes.

Abhijit Singh is a research scholar at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and looks at Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean. He is co-author of the book Indian Ocean Challenges – A Quest for Cooperative Solutions.

http://thediplomat.com/2013/10/16/the-creeping-militarization-of-the-arctic/?all=true

[Elzenga]

Na olie en gas heb je de nieuwe handelsroute die ontstaat door het smeltende Pool ijs, scheelt een aanzienlijk aantal vaardagen voor een rondje Azie... dus in welke vorm dan ook, de N-pool zal ook strategisch en economisch voor Nederland van een steeds groter belang worden.

natuurlijk, was ik vergeten. Buiten het feit..dat als je nu het energiebeleid van Nederland ziet...de kans nogal klein is dat Nederland niet afhankelijk blijft van olie en gas in de komende decennia.

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Ik zat me te bedenken...wat voor politiek in dit kader te (gaan) voeren als bijv. Nederland niet meer afhankelijk zou zijn van de olie en gas? Maar misschien is dat wel een utopie...

Na olie en gas heb je de nieuwe handelsroute die ontstaat door het smeltende Pool ijs, scheelt een aanzienlijk aantal vaardagen voor een rondje Azie... dus in welke vorm dan ook, de N-pool zal ook strategisch en economisch voor Nederland van een steeds groter belang worden.

[Elzenga]

Ik zat me te bedenken...wat voor politiek in dit kader te (gaan) voeren als bijv. Nederland niet meer afhankelijk zou zijn van de olie en gas? Maar misschien is dat wel een utopie...

[Harald]

iets ouder nieuws :

Russia to restore Soviet-era naval base in Arctic: Putin

Russia is to reestablish its military presence in the resource-rich Arctic by re-opening a Soviet-era base to patrol the increasingly navigable Northern Sea Route, President Vladimir Putin said Monday.

Putin said 10 naval ships had arrived at the New Siberian Islands in the Arctic Ocean, as Russia asserts its rights over an area where vast energy resources are becoming more accessible as the sea ice retreats.

"Our forces left in 1993, but this is a very important point in the Northern Arctic," Putin said during a video-conference with defence ministry officials.

He said Russia wanted to "ensure the security and effectiveness of work on the Northern Sea Route, so Russia can effectively control this part of its territory."

Russia hopes to exploit the shipping lane, which runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, as a channel for shipments of oil and gas to markets in Asia.

In 2007, Russian submarines placed the country's flag on the seabed more than two miles under the North Pole, staking claim to hydrocarbons estimated to be worth billions of dollars.

Warmer temperatures in the Arctic Ocean have increased the length of time that the passage remains open to shipping.

Ten ships from the Northern Fleet -- three warships, four atomic ice breakers and seven supply ships -- arrived last week, Putin said.

The taskforce, led by the navy's most powerful battleship, the Peter the Great, arrived two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union led Russia to abandon its base there.

The commander of the northern fleet, Vladimir Korolyov said that the ships' crews had built a temporary camp on the islands where temperatures that can fall to -50 degrees Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit).

"We will not only recreate the military base, but we will also restore the aerodrome," Putin said.

The aerodrome will be expanded to allow heavy cargo planes to land all year round, first deputy defence minister Arkady Bakhin told the RIA-Novosti news agency on Saturday.

"We have arrived, or rather we have returned permanently, because this is truly Russian soil," Bakhin said.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/16/russia-to-restore-soviet-era-naval-base-in-arctic-putin/

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Russian Commandos Train for Arctic Combat

14/10/2013

MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) – Russian army special forces units have had their first training sessions in Arctic warfare, under plans to boost the country's military presence in the region, a Western Military District spokesman said Monday.

According to Col. Oleg Kochetkov, Russian special forces reconnaissance units have carried out a number of training missions on the Kola Peninsula under an experimental program simulating combat in the polar regions' mountainous terrain.

"Combat training missions involving elements of mountaineering in the conditions of the extreme north are a new experience for reconnaissance units that normally train in the mountains in southern Russia," Kochetkov said.

The official said the drills included practicing survival techniques such as finding potable water and food, setting up camp and covert movement through inhabited areas.

He added that the soldiers employed various types of camouflage adapted to local terrain and held their first 'sniper duels' in polar conditions.

Russia has officially set itself the goal of deploying a combined-arms force by 2020, including military, border, and coast guard units, to protect its political and economic interests in the Arctic and boost Russia's military security.

According to the Russian military, two arctic brigades will be deployed in Russia's extreme north over the next few years. Russia also plans to return to mothballed Soviet-era

Arctic airfields and establish a permanent naval presence along the strategically important Northern Sea Route.

The Arctic, believed to have vast untapped natural resources, has increasingly been at the center of disputes between the United States, Russia, Canada, Norway, and Denmark in recent years, as rising temperatures lead to a reduction in sea ice, opening up access to lucrative offshore oil and gas deposits.

http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20131014/184143129/Russian-Commandos-Train-for-Arctic-Combat.html

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Russia deploys Arctic troops

November 2, 2012Andrei Kislyakov

The Arctic region is attracting an increasing amount of attention from the global community. In large part, this is due to the fixing of international external borders to the continental shelf, the transit opportunities afforded by the Northern and Southern Sea Routes, and the promising prospects for exploitation of the Arctic's natural resources.

On Oct. 25, as part of an ongoing Command Post Exercise (CPX) in the Western Military District, the coastal forces of the Northern Fleet made Russia's first ever sea-borne landing on the shores of the uninhabited Kotelny Island.

According to Capt. Vadim Serga, head of the Western Military District Press Service, "the deployment operation involved the study of new navigable areas and military landing opportunities in different locations along the Arctic shore. Reconnaissance of areas on the islands of the Novosibirsk Archipelago was conducted, as was field testing of military equipment and ordnance under Arctic conditions."

A cold region heats up

This is the first time that combat training of this kind has focused on protecting civilian facilities – research stations, drilling facilities and energy-industry installations located in the Arctic region. These are the reasons the large destroyer "Vice-Admiral Kulakov" and the heavy nuclear-powered battle cruiser "Pyotr Veliky" were stationed in coastal Arctic waters of the Northern Sea Route.

More than 7,000 military personnel and 150 objects of military equipment have been involved in the CPX. Training exercises will be conducted in the military testing zones of the Barents Sea, the sub-Arctic areas of the Northern Sea Route, the coastal regions of the Pechenga Area in Murmansk Region, and on the Sredny and Rybachy Peninsulas.

Russia is not the first country to announce the deployment of military bases in the Arctic.

In early 2012, Canada announced that it was setting up an Arctic base on Cornwallis Island. Denmark, too, is making preparations to expand its military presence in the Arctic Ocean. As early as 2009, Denmark mentioned that it was setting up a special Arctic Military Command with a rapid reaction force. A year later, Norway stepped up to requests from its own Polar Command officers, and the U.S. and Canada began conducting regular military exercises in the Arctic.

This level of military activity is understandable. Competition for influence in the Arctic has increased considerably, especially since climate warming began in the area. It is estimated that nearly one quarter of the world's untapped hydrocarbon resources is located in the Arctic.

The Arctic is a region where the economic and geopolitical interests of several countries coincide, which increases the area's importance as a transit zone. Konstantin Sivkov, vice president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, states that, "In a time when the center of economic growth is migrating from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region, the significance of the Northern Sea Route becomes more important."

"In addition, a route via the Arctic is not only the shortest for shipping, but also for strategic aviation and intercontinental ballistic missiles," Sivkov said.

"The capacity for the deployment of powerful missile defense systems in the region and nuclear submarines capable of delivering missile payloads has huge significance for all major world players. According to my sources, American submarines have been patrolling the waters of the Arctic Basin – specifically the Barents Sea – since the 1990s."

It is clear that the Navy will take principle responsibility for defending Russia's installations in the Arctic. Russian defense spending for the period through 2020 includes new vessels for the Northern Fleet.

"We need ships that are capable of serving long term in the Arctic zone," said Rear Adm. Vassily Lyashok, chief of planning for the Navy Development Section, as well as deputy chief of general staff for the Russian Navy. "They need to be nuclear-powered and equipped with ice-breaking capabilities.

"A second requirement is that we need ships in the Arctic zone of the so-called "coastal water" category – particularly in the Barents Sea, but also eventually in the Karsk Se," he added. "These ships should be capable of maintaining favorable operating conditions and safeguarding maritime economic activity."

Moreover, media sources report that Russia will place a squadron of Mig-31 long-range fighter interceptors on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic, in order to safeguard its territory against possible threats from the North.

Russia has also stepped up efforts to strengthen its Polar border infrastructure. Secretary Nikolai Patrushev of the Russian Security Council said in August that the Northern Sea Route would be strengthened by the creation of military naval bases and border services.

By 2021, according to Igor Palutsa, head of the FSB's Coastguard Department, 11 new border centers will be set up. A number of seaports and dual-purpose airfields are also planned.

The Northern Sea Route

The Northern Sea Route is the shortest sea route between European Russia and the Far East. The alternative to this route would be a transport course via the Suez or Panama Canals. However, if the distance by ship from the Port of Murmansk to Yokohama (Japan) via the Suez Canal is 12,480 nautical miles, then the same trip via the Northern Sea Route is only 5,770 nautical miles. The principle obstacle for sea-going vessels on the Northern Sea Route is the ice, but contemporary ice-breakers are capable of ensuring year-round navigation.

http://rbth.ru/articles/2012/11/02/russia_deploys_arctic_troops_19711.html

[dudge]

Ik maak me meer zorgen om "de Draak" en hoe andere machtsblokken daarop gaan reageren dan de "oude beer". Wiens "ambities" inmiddels weinig imperalistisch/doctrine-matigs meer hebben na het "afschaffen" van het zogenaamde Stalinisme/communisme.

Laten we niet vergeten dat Rusland genoeg problemen heeft. Het is het grootste land ter wereld, rijk aan grondstoffen, maar heeft auwelijks mogelijkheden om het allemaal te beveiligen. De oude blik is ook daar nog op het westen gericht. Maar steeds meer wordt ook daar duidelijk dat de oostelijke grenzen onder druk staan, en dat de mogelijkheden in het noorden liggen.

[Elzenga]

We lopen achter de feiten aan !!

Crisis mag geen excus zijn voor je eigen, dus de Nederlands veiligheid, deze moet je hoog op agenda hebben staan.
Jaren 30 zjjn voor Nederland een slecht voorbeeld voor eigen veiligheid en vooral 1940, maar de tijd lijkt zich weer te hehalen

Maar nee, we zijn veilig achter de dijken.. ze liggen in den Haag met hun gezicht in de dijk, zodat ze er niet overheen kijken.

De "oude" Beer ontwaakt en de Draak ook, deze rekend niet met 1 jaar meer of minder. Een eeuw is als 1 dag en 1 dag als een eeuw.

Ik maak me meer zorgen om "de Draak" en hoe andere machtsblokken daarop gaan reageren dan de "oude beer". Wiens "ambities" inmiddels weinig imperalistisch/doctrine-matigs meer hebben na het "afschaffen" van het zogenaamde Stalinisme/communisme.

[Harald]

We lopen achter de feiten aan !!

Crisis mag geen excus zijn voor je eigen, dus de Nederlands veiligheid, deze moet je hoog op agenda hebben staan.
Jaren 30 zjjn voor Nederland een slecht voorbeeld voor eigen veiligheid en vooral 1940, maar de tijd lijkt zich weer te hehalen

Maar nee, we zijn veilig achter de dijken.. ze liggen in den Haag met hun gezicht in de dijk, zodat ze er niet overheen kijken.

De "oude" Beer ontwaakt en de Draak ook, deze rekend niet met 1 jaar meer of minder. Een eeuw is als 1 dag en 1 dag als een eeuw.

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

De term:  één voor twaalf is inmiddels meer gepast.

Ik refereer naar zijn boek(titel).

Helder.