New Report Details Five Critical Security Challenges for the Arctic

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Security Project released a new paper, "The Arctic: Five Critical Security Challenges" which shows how a lack of engagement, planning, and infrastructure is harming America's interests in the Arctic. There are five key examples of how the U.S. is failing to meet the challenge: (1) Energy Exploration, (2) Territorial Disputes and the Law of the Sea, (3) Infrastructure for Emergency Response, (4) American Military Presence, and (5) Managing the U.S. Presence on the Arctic Council.

Perhaps the most visible failure in terms of Arctic policy is the failure of the United States Senate to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty. This means that the U.S. government is not a party to key decisions that will be made soon. Above the Arctic Circle, countries are rapidly staking their claims to extended Exclusive Economic Zones – without the United States at the table.

Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney, USMC (Ret.), CEO of the American Security Project, said: "Due to climate change, the Arctic is changing faster than anywhere else on earth. Other Arctic nations are heavily engaged in planning for the future of the Arctic; it is time for the United States to do the hard work necessary to secure this rapidly opening region."

Andrew Holland, ASP Senior Energy & Climate Fellow said: "It is ironic that climate change, which is largely caused by human emissions, is opening the Arctic to greater commercial exploitation. As the sea ice melts, a wealth of fossil fuels is becoming available for exploitation – resources that will make climate change that much worse. How we manage the changing Arctic will be one of the defining international issues of the next decade."

Read the full paper here.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN SECURITY PROJECT 
The American Security Project is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy and research organization dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of a range of national security issues, promoting debate about the appropriate use of American power, and cultivating strategic responses to 21st century challenges.

For more information, visit www.americansecurityproject.org.

SOURCE American Security Project