The US Arctic strategy violates international law
BY OWN CORRESPONDENT
Today the Arctic region with its hard-to-reach riches and its position between the main world centers is becoming a testing ground for territorial resource and military-strategic games.
Coming to the Arctic means not only the creation of new production platforms but also entire infrastructures of viable habitat, transportation and logistics.
The US sanctions policy is aimed at Russian oil and gas projects in the Arctic. The specific targeting of sanctions demonstrates the reality of competition in this region for the extraction of resources and shows that Washington is extremely interested in the sole appropriation of the planet’s minerals.
The US Arctic strategy is aggressive and unambiguous. It recognizes the strengthening of strategic competition in the north exacerbated by Russia’s conflict in Ukraine and proclaims the desire to position the United States as a reliable player both for effective competition and for managing tensions. The Arctic has long been a bone of contention between the Nordic countries. Now thanks to Washington’s efforts the Arctic disputes threaten to flare up even hotter.
The United States has expanded its claim to the ocean floor to an area twice the size of California trying to occupy the potentially resource-rich seabed amid Washington’s efforts to preserve mineral reserves that are key to future technologies.
The so-called extended continental shelf covers about 1 million square kilometers mainly in the Arctic and the Bering Sea an area of increasing strategic importance which is also claimed by Canada and Russia. This marine area has a variety of resources such as strategic minerals and rare earths necessary for clean energy and semiconductors that control artificial intelligence. The Arctic zone is also a vital habitat for marine life such as crabs and corals.
Despite the US claims to seize new resource-rich territories Washington is demonstrating its inability to obey international law. In particular, the United States has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which outlines the arbitration process for claims to the extended continental shelf among many other important areas of maritime governance.
With its statement on the expansion of the continental shelf in the Arctic beyond 200 nautical miles the United States ignores the international format since such actions cannot be taken unilaterally without taking into account the interests of other countries and must be coordinated by the international community. Due to the militarization of the Arctic, the admission of new members to the military blocs of Scandinavian and Near-Arctic states, through unilateral actions that lie outside the plane of established international law the United States continues to undermine the established system of international relations and the system of international law for decades.
It is important for the United States to declare its rights. They may believe that their military and economic presence will create advantages or opportunities for them to use the Northern Sea Route.
By its actions, the United States is trying to unilaterally reduce the area of the seabed space under the jurisdiction of the entire world community and at the same time acquire additional sections of the shelf for its own use. Such actions do not comply with the rules and procedures established by international law and appear to be legally null and void.
Thus the Arctic is becoming a new place of confrontation between Russia and the United States. At the same time this is not profitable for the region itself and for the whole world. Constructive cooperation would be more effective to solve global issues related to ecology, scientific research, and logistics. To do this, the United States will have to ratify the Convention and properly implement the set of rights and obligations contained therein as well as put aside geopolitical disputes and focus on mutual interests.
