An interesting take on the new colonialism, and the possible benefits -- to the Russians -- of global warming:
Russia will fire the starting gun on the world’s last colonial scramble today when a submarine plants a flag under the North Pole to symbolize the Kremlin’s claim to the Arctic and its vast energy resources.
In an unprecedented and potentially perilous mission, veteran Arctic explorer Artur Chilingarov will descend 14,000 feet in a deep sea submersible and drop a Russian tricolor cast in titanium onto the seabed.
With Russia’s northern rivals, all eager to extend their own Arctic ambitions, looking on uneasily, two Russian ships reached the North Pole after ploughing their way through deep ice for over a week.
In a nation that, in Soviet times, pioneered Arctic exploration, Mr Chilingarov’s expedition has fired the Russian public’s imagination.
But Mr Chilingarov also caused international concern after declaring that the Arctic and the North Pole were Russian.
Global warming has given renewed impetus to the race for control of the Arctic.
Melting ice sheets could open up the fabled North East passage, the quest for which claimed countless sailors’ lives, for the first time.
The route, which could dramatically cut the length of a journey from Europe to Asia, could become navigable to commercial traffic within eight years.
The more clement conditions make for an equally tantalizing prospect.
According to some estimates, the Arctic is home to a quarter of the world’s untapped energy reserves - now more accessible than they ever have been.
For all Mr Chilingarov’s posturing, his expedition is little more than a public relations stunt designed by the Kremlin to attract public support for Russia’s long held claim to a 463,000 mile chunk of the Arctic - about half the size of Western Europe.
The Kremlin has long believed the territory belonged to Russia - it was marked as such on Soviet maps from the 1920s. ... Well that's interesting ...
Labels: energy, North Pole, oil, Russia |
