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The United States must make protection of its environmental and economic interests in the Arctic a major priority; it needs to develop a comprehensive strategy to accomplish this or face being frozen out by the other Arctic nations. Due to drastic climate change, which has increased accessibility to the region, the Arctic region holds increasingly significant implications for the national interests of the United States. This situation is being influenced mainly by four dynamics: climate change, the economy, sovereignty issues, and the environment. This paper examines the elements of each of these dynamics and their specific implications for the United States. The emerging relevance of the Arctic has substantial promise for the United States and other Arctic nations, especially in terms of its potential energy resources. However, the Arctic also is a unique and vulnerable ecosystem. Endangering such an ecosystem could have global impacts that are not yet known, so rushing into the region without having protective regimes and response capabilities in place would be imprudent and irresponsible. The new and dynamic situation in the Arctic presents the United States with opportunities that go beyond the region, and can be used as a catalyst to begin reshaping world opinion, particularly as it concerns foreign affairs, energy policy, and the environment. By effectively using its instruments of national power, the United States can simultaneously secure its own interests while promoting a cooperative regional approach to the issues of an emerging Arctic region. In doing so, the United States could improve its international reputation and influence the security environment worldwide. The proposed U.S. Arctic Strategy could foster a new atmosphere of cooperation in the Arctic that provides for the sustainable development of its vast economic opportunities while protecting it as a critical environment.
The Arctic environment is in a state of flux and the U.S. government must be prepared to handle the evolution and capitalize on the opportunities. Once barren and desolate, the Arctic is slowly coming to life with industry and commerce brought about by receding ice conditions. Along with that comes the need for a comprehensive and actionable Arctic policy. The other Arctic nations that ring the North Pole are quickly adapting to the shifting Arctic. Unlike the U.S., they have established Arctic policies, are implementing plans to operate in the region, and taking advantage of the opportunities that this new frontier has to offer. The U.S. framework is the National Strategy for the Arctic Region. The plan is short on detail and aspirational in nature. It lacks clear direction and authority. The U.S. has yet to commit to its role as an Arctic nation. The U.S. Arctic lacks infrastructure such as a deep-water port, a joint military base, and additional heavy icebreaker assets. Additionally, there is no lead agency that has authority and funding to carry out U.S. Arctic objectives. Under the current state of affairs, the U.S. is vulnerable to security, economic, and sovereignty issues in the Arctic. CHAPTER I * INTRODUCTION * A. RESEARCH QUESTION * B. PROBLEM SPACE * C. THESIS ROADMAP * D. METHOD * E. LITERATURE REVIEW * CHAPTER II * ASSEMBLING THE EVIDENCE - REVIEW OF CURRENT U.S. ARCTIC FRAMEWORK * A. U.S. HAS AN ARCTIC "WISH LIST" (NOT POLICY) * 1. The U.S. is Not a Signatory to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) * 2. The U.S. is an Active Member of the Arctic Council * CHAPTER III * CONSTRUCT THE ALTERNATIVES: THE OTHER NATIONS' ARCTIC STRATEGIES * A. CANADA * 1. Exercising Arctic Sovereignty * 2. Sovereignty and Increased Military Presence * 3. Arctic Council * 4. International Cooperation * 5. Protecting the Nation's Environmental Heritage * 6. Promoting Social and Economic Development * 7. Indigenous Relations * 8. Improving and Devolving Northern Governance * 9. Summary and Analysis * B. RUSSIAN FEDERATION * 1. Military Presence to Promote Security * 2. UNCLOS * 3. Arctic Council * 4. Economic and Natural Resource Development * 5. Summary and Analysis * C. KINGDOM OF DENMARK * 1. Sovereignty and Security * 2. Respectful Development of Resources and Environmental Protection * 3. International Cooperation (UNCLOS and the Arctic Council) * 4. Summary and Analysis * D. NORWAY * 1. UNCLOS and International Cooperation * 2. Role of the Arctic Counsel in Norway * 3. Summary and Analysis * E. SWEDEN * 1. International Cooperation * 2. Indigenous People * 3. Climate Monitoring * 4. Marine Transportation * 5. Summary and Analysis * F. FINLAND * 1. Environment and Climate * 2. Economic Activities * 3. Transport/Infrastructure * 4. Treatment of Indigenous People of the Arctic * 5. Regional and International Cooperation * 6. Arctic Council * 7. Summary and Analysis * G. ICELAND * 1. UNCLOS * 2. Arctic Council * 3. Upholding Security Interests * 4. Indigenous People * 5. Summary and Analysis * H. NON-ARCTIC STATES * CHAPTER IV * SELECT THE CRITERIA - WHAT ARE THE GAPS IN THE CURRENT FRAMEWORK WHEN COMPARED WITH ALTERNATIVES?. * 1. Long-Term Maritime Governance * 2. Native Population Needs * 3. Infrastructure Development * CHAPTER V * PROJECT THE OUTCOMES AND CONFRONT THE TRADE-OFFS - THE RISKS IN THE MARITIME DOMAIN IF THE U.S. DOES NOT CREATE AN EFFECTIVE ARCTIC POLICY * A. RISK TO SAFETY OF LIFE AND PROPERTY AT SEA DUE TO A LACK OF SEARCH AND RESCUE (SAR) ASSETS AND FACILITIES * 1. Potential Environmental Damage, and Interruption of Native Subsistence Whaling/Fishing Due to a Lack of Oil Spill-Response Equipment * 2. Risk To Sovereignty/ Natural Resource Claims Due to Not Acceding to UNCLOS * 3. Maritime Domain Awareness as a Means of Increasing Sovereignty * CHAPTER VI * FINDINGS/CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS * A. COORDINATION AND DESIGNATION OF A LEAD FEDERAL AGENCY * B. INFRASTRUCTURE * C. MULTI-USE/JOINT BA
"The Arctic is a vast, often cold, and still relatively pristine landscape. A recent rise in the temperature cycle is causing significant melting of the sea ice in the region. This change is presenting new challenges and opportunities for the Arctic nations and indigenous people living there, as each seeks to protect their interest. However, this friction is not new; the region has historically been of strategic importance to the United States, both from an economic and national security standpoint. The Arctic's future depends primarily on the eight countries who are members of the Arctic Council and share ownership of this region; with Russia, Canada, and the United States being the primary stakeholders. This essay's purpose is to further the ongoing dialogue on what type of organizational headquarters is best suited for the region, considering the complexity of the environment, strategic guidance and other factors that enhance the effectiveness of an organization. This paper uses an empirical approach to argue the Arctic requires a different method to leading US efforts in the region. There are three recommendations derived from this study. The first recommendation supports the idea of a civilian-led headquarters, subordinate to US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), which can more efficiently focus efforts on what are primarily scientific, economic, and diplomatic issues. The second recommendation is to base the headquarters in or near the Arctic, improving credibility amongst the Arctic nations and external partners while improving continuity of effort, increasing situational awareness, and most importantly building trust between all parties. The third recommendation focuses on leveraging the previously mentioned headquarters to lead bi-annual exercises in the Arctic region, providing a mechanism to train the civilians in their roles guiding the military, increasing the collaboration of all interested parties while putting to test the new systems and capabilities needed to make year-round operations in the Arctic a reality."--Abstract.
Jerry Thigpen's study on the history of the Combat Talon is the first effort to tell the story of this wonderfully capable machine. This weapons system has performed virtually every imaginable tactical event in the spectrum of conflict and by any measure is the most versatile C-130 derivative ever produced. First modified and sent to Southeast Asia (SEA) in 1966 to replace theater unconventional warfare (UW) assets that were limited in both lift capability and speed the Talon I quickly adapted to theater UW tasking including infiltration and resupply and psychological warfare operations into North Vietnam. After spending four years in SEA and maturing into a highly respected UW weapons system the Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) chose the Combat Talon to lead the night low-level raid on the North Vietnamese prison camp at Son Tay. Despite the outcome of the operation the Talon I cemented its reputation as the weapons system of choice for long-range clandestine operations. In the period following the Vietnam War United States Air Force (USAF) special operations gradually lost its political and financial support which was graphically demonstrated in the failed Desert One mission into Iran. Thanks to congressional supporters like Earl Hutto of Florida and Dan Daniel of Virginia funds for aircraft upgrades and military construction projects materialized to meet the ever-increasing threat to our nation. Under the leadership of such committed hard-driven officers as Brenci Uttaro Ferkes Meller and Thigpen the crew force became the most disciplined in our Air Force. It was capable of penetrating hostile airspace at night in a low-level mountainous environment covertly to execute any number of unconventional warfare missions.
One of the century's most spectacular archaeological finds occurred in 1921, a year before Howard Carter stumbled upon Tutankhamun's tomb, when Poul Norlund recovered dozens of garments from a graveyard in the Norse settlement of Herjolfsnaes, Greenland. Preserved intact for centuries by the permafrost, these mediaeval garments display remarkable similarities to western European costumes of the time. Previously, such costumes were known only from contemporary illustrations, and the Greenland finds provided the world with a close look at how ordinary Europeans dressed in the Middle Ages. Fortunately for Norlund's team, wood has always been extremely scarce in Greenland, and instead of caskets, many of the bodies were found swaddled in multiple layers of cast off clothing. When he wrote about the excavation later, Norlund also described how occasional thaws had permitted crowberry and dwarf willow to establish themselves in the top layers of soil. Their roots grew through coffins, clothing and corpses alike, binding them together in a vast network of thin fibers - as if, he wrote, the finds had been literally sewn in the earth. Eighty years of technical advances and subsequent excavations have greatly added to our understanding of the Herjolfsnaes discoveries. Woven into the Earth recounts the dramatic story of Norlund's excavation in the context of other Norse textile finds in Greenland. It then describes what the finds tell us about the materials and methods used in making the clothes. The weaving and sewing techniques detailed here are surprisingly sophisticated, and one can only admire the talent of the women who employed them, especially considering the harsh conditions they worked under. While Woven into the Earth will be invaluable to students of medieval archaeology, Norse society and textile history, both lay readers and scholars are sure to find the book's dig narratives and glimpses of life among the last Vikings fascinating.
Enough about the oil problem. Here?s the solution.Over a few decades, starting now, a vibrant US economy (then others) can completely phase out oil. This will save a net $70 billion a year, revitalize key industries and rural America, create a million jobs, and enhance security.Here?s the roadmap ? independent, peer-reviewed, co-sponsored by the Pentagon ? for the transition beyond oil, led by business and profit.
This book explores the concept of 'cognitive injustice': the failure to recognise the different ways of knowing by which people across the globe run their lives and provide meaning to their existence. Boaventura de Sousa Santos shows why global social justice is not possible without global cognitive justice. Santos argues that Western domination has profoundly marginalised knowledge and wisdom that had been in existence in the global South. She contends that today it is imperative to recover and valorize the epistemological diversity of the world. Epistemologies of the South outlines a new kind of bottom-up cosmopolitanism, in which conviviality, solidarity and life triumph against the logic of market-ridden greed and individualism.
In Killing Hope, William Blum, author of the bestselling Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower, provides a devastating and comprehensive account of America's covert and overt military actions in the world, all the way from China in the 1940s to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and - in this updated edition - beyond. Is the United States, as it likes to claim, a global force for democracy? Killing Hope shows the answer to this question to be a resounding 'no'.