The Contest for the Arctic: The Militarization and Dual-Use Infrastructure
The Arctic is no longer a distant periphery of great-power competition. Melting ice has opened new shipping routes, exposed vast mineral and energy resources, and shortened the… 
The Arctic is no longer a distant periphery of great-power competition. Melting ice has opened new shipping routes, exposed vast mineral and energy resources, and shortened the geographic distance between Russia’s Northern Fleet and the North American homeland. What was once treated as a secondary theatre has become a central concern for NATO planners, driven by Russia’s icebreaking superiority, expanding base network, and growing cooperation with China. In response, the Alliance haslaunched coordinated efforts to restore presence, improve undersea surveillance, and build dual-use infrastructure capable of operating year-round in extreme conditions.
Russia maintains by far the…
