This month, in response to the escalation of international sanctions against Russia, a member of the Russian parliament called for the return of Alaska, bought by the United States from Russia in 1867, to Russian control – a possible rhetorical gesture that nevertheless reflects the deterioration of the relationship between the two world powers. For centuries, the vast arctic waters of the Arctic were largely icy ice-covered lands whose exact territorial boundaries – claimed by the United States, Russia, Canada, Norway, Denmark and Iceland – remained volatile. . But as the melting of the sea ice has opened up new shipping lanes and as nations look at the vast reserves of hydrocarbons and minerals beneath the Arctic, the complex conditions, claims and boundary zones that govern the region have opened up new controversies. Canada and the United States have never reached an agreement on the status of the Northwest Passage between the North Atlantic and the Beaufort Sea. China is also working to establish a base, declaring itself an “almost Arctic state” and working with Russia to promote “sustainable” development and the expanded use of Arctic trade routes. Russia has made it clear that it intends to control the so-called North Sea route off its north coast, a route that significantly reduces the shipping distance between China and northern Europe. U.S. officials have complained that Russia is illegally demanding permission from other nations to cross, and is threatening to use military force to sink non-compliant ships. “We’re stuck in a pretty tense situation there,” said Troy Bouffard, director of the Center for Arctic Safety and Durability at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “Either we agree to Russia, to the extreme control of surface water, or we raise or escalate the issue.”
