Melting Frontier’s: The Race for Resources and Strategic Sea Routes in the Arctic Ocean

Abstract

The warming climate in the Arctic has revealed an area rich in natural resources as well as strategic trade routes, thus opening doors for economic opportunities and rivalries by both Arctic and non-Arctic states. This is a qualitative research study on secondary data that seeks to examine prospects and implications regarding Arctic resource exploitation, emerging shipping routes, and environmental protection. The results suggest that the massive oil and gas reserves in the Arctic, combined with new transport routes such as the Northern Sea Route, will dramatically strengthen the economies of a few nations. Yet, this growth is overshadowed by rivalry relations, especially between Russia, China, and the US. It further throws light upon the tremendous environmental pollutions, mass immigration of the indigenous tribes, and self-rule problems that generally are ignored by the federal programs and international agreements.