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After years of being insulated from political strife, tensions between NATO and Russia have been rising over the Arctic following the suspension of the Arctic Council. So in this video, we explain the history of the region and why tensions are escalating.

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1 - https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/189844/wp85.pdf
2 - https://dgap.org/en/research/publications/disruption-arctic-exceptionalism
3 - https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price
4 - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/03/new-arctic-thawing-rapidly-circle-work-oil/
5 - https://www.reuters.com/article/russia-arctic/russian-general-says-watching-arctic-militarisation-idINLN49100920090223
6 - https://dgap.org/en/research/publications/disruption-arctic-exceptionalism
7 - https://www.state.gov/joint-statement-on-arctic-council-cooperation-following-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/
8 - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-03-13/nato-russia-are-flexing-their-military-power-in-the-arctic?srnd=premium-uk
9 - https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/FP_20210412_china_arctic.pdf

00:00 Introduction
00:49 History of Arctic Exceptionalism
02:19 Rising Tensions
05:03 The End of Arctic Exceptionalism?
07:49 What Happens Next?
09:33 Nebula

For the past 30 years, the Arctic has enjoyed an exceptional status.

Despite occasionally tense relations between the 8 Arctic states, they've successfully cooperated on Arctic issues via the Arctic Council.

However, after Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the Arctic Council has essentially collapsed, and geopolitical tensions between NATO and Russia in the region are rising.

So in this video, we're going to take a look at the history of the Arctic, why tensions might be escalating, and what might happen next.

Before we start, if you haven't already, please consider subscribing and ringing the bell to stay in the loop and be notified when we release new videos.

As I said in the intro, historically the Arctic has enjoyed a so-called exceptional status, insulated from global political tensions.

This meant that, even if the various stakeholders in the Arctic weren't getting on elsewhere around the globe, when it came to Arctic issues, they'd set their differences aside and resolve them with dialogue.

The era of Arctic exceptionalism really began towards the end of the Cold War, when in his 1987 speech, Soviet Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev announced his intentions to quote, de-securitize the region and cooperate with Western countries on what he described as non-strategic areas of interest, like scientific research and environmental protection.

And just 2 years later, Finland convened officials from the 8 Arctic states to start a discussion on matters of environmental protection, resulting in what came to be known as the Rovaniemi process.

And in 1991, these 8 states then negotiated the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, which became the Arctic Council in 1996.

Now, This council has been the main forum for Arctic cooperation ever since, and while it doesn't really have any legal powers, it's actually been remarkably effective, and Arctic Council members almost always obeyed its non-binding resolutions.

However, Arctic exceptionalism first came under strain in the late 2000s for 2 reasons.

Thanks to global warming, the ice cover over the Arctic Sea began receding, especially during summer months.

This in turn made the Arctic more accessible and made the Arctic's abundant natural resources more exploitable, creating a commercial incentive for Arctic countries to assert themselves in the area.

That's because the US Geological Study estimates that there are around 412 billion barrels of oil and natural gas lying undiscovered in the Arctic, about 22% of the world's total.

For context, A barrel of oil currently costs about $70, which means that the total value of this oil comes to an astounding $28 trillion, significantly more than even the US's annual GDP.

And the Arctic doesn't just have oil either.

It's also got significant mineral deposits of other expensive commodities like diamonds and gold, as well as other critical minerals like bauxite, phosphate and iron, which are all going to be essential in the coming energy transition.

Ultimately, this is why Russia claimed most of the Arctic waters as part of Russia's exclusive economic zone.

And why, in 2007, a Russian submarine planted a Russian flag on the North Pole to assert its territorial claim.

The same year, the Russian Navy started accompanying Russian trawlers that previously clashed with the Norwegian Navy over fishing rights off the coast of Svalbard.

It's not just the changing climate which has opened up the Arctic though.

The second reason that Arctic exceptionalism came under strain in the late 2000s was the deterioration of relations between Russia and the West.

That's because Russia actually had pretty good relations with the West in the early 2000s.

But by 2007, Putin had become fed up with what he perceived as American unilateralism.

This was made apparent by his speech at the Munich Security Conference that year, where he railed against NATO expansion, the US's plans for a missile shield in Europe, and quote, America's almost uncontained hyper-use of force in international relations.

Nonetheless, despite Anarctic intentions in the late 2000s, the Arctic Council made a sustained effort to protect Arctic exceptionalism.

And at their 2013 summit, its members once again reaffirmed their commitment to Arctic multilateralism and the status of the Council as the principal force for international cooperation in the Arctic.

Tensions were strained yet again after Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, but the Council continued to function until Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February of last year.

That's because a week or so after the invasion, the 7 other members of the council announced that they wouldn't be cooperating with Russia on Arctic matters or holding any more council meetings.

Now today, the council does still exist and Russia is yet to withdraw, but the council doesn't actually do anything.

And this diplomatic breakdown has been accompanied by an accelerating re-militarisation of the area.

When Sweden joins NATO in the coming months, The other 7 arctic states, apart from Russia, will all be NATO members, and Russia has responded to this possibility by expanding its military presence in the arctic.

In July of last year, just a few months after the invasion, Putin unveiled a new maritime strategy, vowing to protect Arctic waters by all means necessary, including with hypersonic missile systems.

This is a particularly controversial move because the shortest distance between Russia and the US is over the Arctic, which means that the US will probably have to invest in its own rapid response missile defence system in the region to defend against the potential of Russian aggression.

It's not just that either, around 2 thirds of Russia's nuclear powered vehicles, including ballistic missile submarines and nuclear attack submarines, have now been assigned to the Northern Fleet, which operates in the Arctic and is based out of Russia's Kola Peninsula.

Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has also announced plans to give Russia's Arctic troops about 500 modern weapons defence systems and secure radar coverage of Arctic airspace.

On top of that, the Russian army has also started performing regular drills in the Arctic as of last year.

The most recent drills coming in March, when the Northern Fleet announced unscheduled military exercises, which began just as the other Arctic members were finishing up their own Arctic Forge exercises, a month-long joint exercise led by the US involving troops from at least 16 NATO countries.

Adding fuel to the fire, even China is now getting interested in the Arctic.

In 2012, after receding ice sheets revealed rare earth mineral deposits, China declared itself a quote near-Arctic power and requested observer status on the Arctic Council.

And in 2015, the Chinese Navy began semi-regular incursions into the Arctic.

After 30 years of Arctic exceptionalism, geopolitical tensions in the region are clearly heating up, and things look unlikely to get better any time soon, given the continued effects of climate change and the limited prospect of a peace settlement in Ukraine in the near future.

Unsurprisingly, this is something that NATO has become increasingly worried about.

Just last year, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that NATO will be stepping up its own presence in the region in response to both Russia and China's newfound interest.

Not only that, at the NATO summit last week we got the opportunity to ask the Finnish defence minister what he thought about the suspension of the Arctic Council.

Well, the Arctic Council has been quite a non-military profile, and that's a good way.

There's so high stakes at environmental cases in the High North.

But of course, when Finland and hopefully now Sweden is joining NATO, inside NATO will become a bigger northern European sphere.

We are bringing a big Arctic landmass to NATO area, 1, 300 km Russian border.

First of all, we are taking care of our own defense.

But of course, we want the collective defense alliance to also notice this big share of the Arctic way, of course the Baltic Sea and the 1300km new border.

By the way, we did a whole bunch of interviews while we were at the NATO summit, all of which are linked on the playlist below.

And if you're looking for even more content, then I have a recommendation.

This is just 1 of many geopolitical tensions right now though.

China is an obvious example of another actor, whose decisions seem increasingly troubling at the moment.

Ultimately, that's why it's important that we understand these nations and their problems in a detailed way.

And a good way to learn more is through Polymatter's brilliant series, China actually.

This show runs through issues from Chinese censorship and their nuclear policy to how the country has come to dominate rare earth mineral production, something we've discussed before in TLDR videos.

If that sounds good to you then you can watch this series alongside a load of others which perfectly complement TLDR videos exclusively on our streaming service, Nebula, where you can also find a bunch of TLDR content too.

That's because we post all of our videos ad-free on Nebula, as well as sharing some of our videos there before they ever make it to YouTube.

Not only that, we also release hours worth of content only on Nebula every month, from extended editions of our show The daily briefing, to exclusive explainers and behind the scenes clips.

And the good news is that all of this, TLDR content, exclusive documentary series, and a bunch of other brilliant creators are available at a great price.

That's because if you sign up using our link in the description, then you


Speaker 0: This video was brought to you by Nebula. For the past 30 years, the Arctic has enjoyed an exceptional status. Despite occasionally tense relations between the 8 Arctic states, they've successfully cooperated on Arctic issues via the Arctic Council. However, after Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the Arctic Council has essentially collapsed, and geopolitical tensions between NATO and Russia in the region are rising. So in this video, we're going to take a look at the history of the Arctic, why tensions might be escalating, and what might happen next.

Before we start, if you haven't already, please consider subscribing and ringing the bell to stay in the loop and be notified when we release new videos. So let's start with a bit of context. As I said in the intro, historically the Arctic has enjoyed a so-called exceptional status, insulated from global political tensions. This meant that, even if the various stakeholders in the Arctic weren't getting on elsewhere around the globe, when it came to Arctic issues, they'd set their differences aside and resolve them with dialogue. The era of Arctic exceptionalism really began towards the end of the Cold War, when in his 1987 speech, Soviet Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev announced his intentions to quote, de-securitize the region and cooperate with Western countries on what he described as non-strategic areas of interest, like scientific research and environmental protection.

And just 2 years later, Finland convened officials from the 8 Arctic states to start a discussion on matters of environmental protection, resulting in what came to be known as the Rovaniemi process. And in 1991, these 8 states then negotiated the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, which became the Arctic Council in 1996. Now, This council has been the main forum for Arctic cooperation ever since, and while it doesn't really have any legal powers, it's actually been remarkably effective, and Arctic Council members almost always obeyed its non-binding resolutions. However, Arctic exceptionalism first came under strain in the late 2000s for 2 reasons. Thanks to global warming, the ice cover over the Arctic Sea began receding, especially during summer months.

This in turn made the Arctic more accessible and made the Arctic's abundant natural resources more exploitable, creating a commercial incentive for Arctic countries to assert themselves in the area. That's because the US Geological Study estimates that there are around 412 billion barrels of oil and natural gas lying undiscovered in the Arctic, about 22% of the world's total. For context, A barrel of oil currently costs about $70, which means that the total value of this oil comes to an astounding $28 trillion, significantly more than even the US's annual GDP. And the Arctic doesn't just have oil either. It's also got significant mineral deposits of other expensive commodities like diamonds and gold, as well as other critical minerals like bauxite, phosphate and iron, which are all going to be essential in the coming energy transition.

Ultimately, this is why Russia claimed most of the Arctic waters as part of Russia's exclusive economic zone. And why, in 2007, a Russian submarine planted a Russian flag on the North Pole to assert its territorial claim. The same year, the Russian Navy started accompanying Russian trawlers that previously clashed with the Norwegian Navy over fishing rights off the coast of Svalbard. It's not just the changing climate which has opened up the Arctic though. The second reason that Arctic exceptionalism came under strain in the late 2000s was the deterioration of relations between Russia and the West.

That's because Russia actually had pretty good relations with the West in the early 2000s. But by 2007, Putin had become fed up with what he perceived as American unilateralism. This was made apparent by his speech at the Munich Security Conference that year, where he railed against NATO expansion, the US's plans for a missile shield in Europe, and quote, America's almost uncontained hyper-use of force in international relations. Nonetheless, despite Anarctic intentions in the late 2000s, the Arctic Council made a sustained effort to protect Arctic exceptionalism. And at their 2013 summit, its members once again reaffirmed their commitment to Arctic multilateralism and the status of the Council as the principal force for international cooperation in the Arctic.

Tensions were strained yet again after Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, but the Council continued to function until Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February of last year. That's because a week or so after the invasion, the 7 other members of the council announced that they wouldn't be cooperating with Russia on Arctic matters or holding any more council meetings. Now today, the council does still exist and Russia is yet to withdraw, but the council doesn't actually do anything. And this diplomatic breakdown has been accompanied by an accelerating re-militarisation of the area. When Sweden joins NATO in the coming months, The other 7 arctic states, apart from Russia, will all be NATO members, and Russia has responded to this possibility by expanding its military presence in the arctic.

In July of last year, just a few months after the invasion, Putin unveiled a new maritime strategy, vowing to protect Arctic waters by all means necessary, including with hypersonic missile systems. This is a particularly controversial move because the shortest distance between Russia and the US is over the Arctic, which means that the US will probably have to invest in its own rapid response missile defence system in the region to defend against the potential of Russian aggression. It's not just that either, around 2 thirds of Russia's nuclear powered vehicles, including ballistic missile submarines and nuclear attack submarines, have now been assigned to the Northern Fleet, which operates in the Arctic and is based out of Russia's Kola Peninsula. Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has also announced plans to give Russia's Arctic troops about 500 modern weapons defence systems and secure radar coverage of Arctic airspace. On top of that, the Russian army has also started performing regular drills in the Arctic as of last year.

The most recent drills coming in March, when the Northern Fleet announced unscheduled military exercises, which began just as the other Arctic members were finishing up their own Arctic Forge exercises, a month-long joint exercise led by the US involving troops from at least 16 NATO countries. Adding fuel to the fire, even China is now getting interested in the Arctic. In 2012, after receding ice sheets revealed rare earth mineral deposits, China declared itself a quote near-Arctic power and requested observer status on the Arctic Council. And in 2015, the Chinese Navy began semi-regular incursions into the Arctic. You get the idea then.

After 30 years of Arctic exceptionalism, geopolitical tensions in the region are clearly heating up, and things look unlikely to get better any time soon, given the continued effects of climate change and the limited prospect of a peace settlement in Ukraine in the near future. Unsurprisingly, this is something that NATO has become increasingly worried about. Just last year, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that NATO will be stepping up its own presence in the region in response to both Russia and China's newfound interest. Not only that, at the NATO summit last week we got the opportunity to ask the Finnish defence minister what he thought about the suspension of the Arctic Council.

Speaker 1: Well, the Arctic Council has been quite a non-military profile, and that's a good way. There's so high stakes at environmental cases in the High North. But of course, when Finland and hopefully now Sweden is joining NATO, inside NATO will become a bigger northern European sphere. We are bringing a big Arctic landmass to NATO area, 1, 300 km Russian border. That's a big burden for us to take.

First of all, we are taking care of our own defense. That's our priority. But of course, we want the collective defense alliance to also notice this big share of the Arctic way, of course the Baltic Sea and the 1300km new border.

Speaker 0: By the way, we did a whole bunch of interviews while we were at the NATO summit, all of which are linked on the playlist below. And if you're looking for even more content, then I have a recommendation. This is just 1 of many geopolitical tensions right now though. China is an obvious example of another actor, whose decisions seem increasingly troubling at the moment. Ultimately, that's why it's important that we understand these nations and their problems in a detailed way.

And a good way to learn more is through Polymatter's brilliant series, China actually. This show runs through issues from Chinese censorship and their nuclear policy to how the country has come to dominate rare earth mineral production, something we've discussed before in TLDR videos. If that sounds good to you then you can watch this series alongside a load of others which perfectly complement TLDR videos exclusively on our streaming service, Nebula, where you can also find a bunch of TLDR content too. That's because we post all of our videos ad-free on Nebula, as well as sharing some of our videos there before they ever make it to YouTube. Not only that, we also release hours worth of content only on Nebula every month, from extended editions of our show The daily briefing, to exclusive explainers and behind the scenes clips.

And the good news is that all of this, TLDR content, exclusive documentary series, and a bunch of other brilliant creators are available at a great price. That's because if you sign up using our link in the description, then you

See all TLDR News Global transcripts on Youtube

Why NATO-Russia Tensions Are Rising in the Arctic