n°171 September 2014 OCEANS AND GEOPOLITICS THE ARCTIC, A GLOBAL CHALLENGE "If someone tried to invade the Canadian Arctic, my first instinct would be to come to his rescue”. This statement from Canadian General Walter Natynczyk in November 2009 illustrates...
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n°171 September 2014 OCEANS AND GEOPOLITICS THE ARCTIC, A GLOBAL CHALLENGE "If someone tried to invade the Canadian Arctic, my first instinct would be to come to his rescue”. This statement from Canadian General Walter Natynczyk in November 2009 illustrates the complexities of the Far North. While interest in the region and its natural resources grows continuously (hydrocarbons, tourism, minerals, shipping routes...), we are still far from mastering this universe. Everything remains to be done. WHITE GOLD? During the Cold War, interest in the Arctic Ocean was primarily strategic. The two superpowers were facing each other, separated by the Bering Strait, only 92 km apart. As early as 1959, an American submarine broke through the ice at the pole, making the threat of a nuclear winter credible. The end of the Cold War marked a disinterest in the area and, it would not be till 2007 that the world would be reminded of the Far North when an expedition planted a Russian flag at the bottom of
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