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ISSN: 1391 - 0531
Sunday October 28, 2007
Vol. 42 - No 22
International  

Arctic scramble

~ Washington may reconsider Law of the Sea

More than a decade since it was first signed by President Bill Clinton, U.S. lawmakers are once again debating whether or not to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (U.N.C.L.O.S.), a comprehensive maritime legal framework to which more than 150 states are signatories. The Bush administration's latest push for joining U.N.C.L.O.S. comes amidst growing anxieties within Washington over Russian and Canadian displays of strength in the increasingly strategic waters of the Arctic — and the dour prospect of losing rights to the region's precious hydrocarbons and strategic waterways.

Shadows of Russia permeated the debate within the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in late September and early October. In August, Moscow sent an expedition of submarines to investigate the geological structure of the underwater Arctic Lomonosov Ridge. The expedition culminated with the planting of a small titanium Russian flag into the icy rocks at the North Pole, symbolically claiming the territory.

This undated photo made available by the U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday shows the Coast Guard cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean near Barrow, Alaska. The Coast Guard plans to set up an operations base in Barrow to monitor waters now free of ice for longer periods of the year. AP

In late September, the Ministry of Natural Resources in Moscow announced rock samples taken in the voyage reveal hints of a geological connection between the ridge and the country's continental shelf. Under U.N.C.L.O.S., a state is given control and resource extraction rights over an area spanning approximately 200 miles (320 kilometres) from its coast, a boundary which can be pushed even further if geological evidence proves that underwater landmasses extend the continental shelf. Furthermore, while most scientists remain sceptical of claims regarding the Lomonosov so far, Moscow must demonstrate evidence of its claim before its deadline to submit a formal bid before the U.N. in 2009 under U.N.C.L.O.S., which explains the tempo of Russian missions to the region.

If successful, Russia stands to gain more than 450,000 square miles of Arctic sea and ice, a swath of territory holding anywhere from one to five billion tons of oil and gas. Accordingly, Moscow has recently begun a "northern push" to make its presence in the Arctic known, from buzzing Alaskan and Canadian airspace with bombers to announcing plans for a large "nature reserve" in the Arctic sea — named, of course, "The Russian Arctic." However, Russia is only one nation jockeying for position in the Arctic.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has moved to reassert Canada's claims in the Arctic. He toured the region shortly after the Russian mission to the North Pole, and announced eight new ice-going patrol boats and an investment in a new port to service them. Canada is also seeking to designate the once-mythical Northwest Passage, which is now navigable for a brief window each year, as Canadian territory, much to the consternation of the United States and others who argue that it should be considered international waters.

Washington wishes to minimize other states' ability to make significant gains in the region, but without being an active member of the U.N.C.L.O.S. it is difficult to dispute the claims put forth by other countries. Speaking before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on September 27, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte stated this explicitly before the Senate, saying: "Recent Russian expeditions to the Arctic have focused attention on the resource-related benefits of being a party to the [Law of the Sea] Convention…Currently, as a non-party…there is no U.S. commissioner to review the detailed data submitted by other countries on their [continental] shelves."

U.N.C.L.O.S. has broad support in Washington and the backing of the Bush administration, yet a powerful and vocal group of conservative lawmakers, scholars, and think-tanks are vociferously denouncing the measure. They wish to block ratification — as they have done successfully in the past — on the grounds that U.N.C.L.O.S. would prohibitively hamper the freedom of the U.S. Navy to operate as it sees fit, hurt American maritime interests, and impede significantly upon national sovereignty. Some environmental groups have also come out against ratification, based on the fear that it would lead to increased resource extraction in the region.

Nevertheless, events are aligning to help its supporters push through the bill's ratification by year's end. Russia's exploratory missions and Canada's claim to the Northwest Passage have been used by supporters of ratification to raise the anxiety level over Arctic resources. A recent U.S. Geological Survey indicated that Alaska's continental shelf may extend further into the region than previously thought. Also, extremely tight oil and gas markets are encouraging exploration in more remote and unstable regions — in this context, supporters have defined U.S. access to the Arctic reserves as a national security issue.

However, Washington's most profound disputes — and possibly those with the most serious ramifications for regional security — are with Canada. The two countries both claim a triangular, petroleum-rich wedge of the Beaufort Sea, a dispute which stems from the differing ways in which each has drawn its boundaries in the region. Because the United States likely has a weaker claim to the tiny area, it might put itself at a disadvantage in this dispute by signing U.N.C.L.O.S. Still, the "wedge" is not as important to the U.S. as maintaining the Northwest Passage as an international waterway. Ratifying U.N.C.L.O.S. may give the U.S. the legal standing to block Canada's claim to the potentially lucrative shipping lane.

If the Senate ratifies U.N.C.L.O.S., it will not slow the scramble for control of the Arctic, but it would provide a legal framework to provide certainty to each state's claims. While U.N.C.L.O.S. will play an important role in arbitration, and the Arctic Council will become a stronger force for cooperation, competition over the Arctic region is certain to heat up as access to its mineral and energy reserves comes closer to reality.

Courtesy the Power and Interest News Report (PINR)

 
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