OPINION: The U.S. comes in from the cold with new climate-focused Arctic strategy

In a small club of only eight countries that hold territory in the northernmost reaches of our planet, the United States is nicknamed the reluctant Arctic nation among the group.

It’s easy to see why.

Despite its promise to become a circumpolar superpower, that potential has largely remained unrealized without clear leadership, investments and vision from the White House. For decades, the U.S. has been the only Arctic nation without a dedicated ambassador to the region. It lags woefully behind Russia’s icebreaking fleet of 40 ships with a mere two aging assets. And during the 2019 Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting, an intergovernmental forum for the eight nations with territory in the Arctic,the Trump administration refused to cooperate on any joint declaration that made mention of climate change or the Paris Agreement.

Put bluntly, the U.S. has been a weak Arctic power — until this year.

Last Friday, the Biden administration released the National Strategy for the Arctic Region with an ambitious vision for leadership at home and abroad. The strategy’s release last week follows the recent White House announcement that President Biden plans to appoint the first ever ambassador-at-large for the Arctic Region. With a committed leader and strategic framework to guide the federal government’s approach to tackling emerging challenges and opportunities in the region, the U.S. is finally shedding its reluctance nickname.

In a stark departure from the Trump administration’s Arctic approach and the 2019 Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting, the Biden administration’s vision centers people and planet. This new focus is not only a welcome change; it is essential for a region that is warming four times faster than the global average and already experiencing the fatal fallout of our reliance on fossil fuels.

The new strategy names the climate crisis as the greatest challenge facing the region, and the 4 million people who call the Arctic home as its central beneficiaries. It sets a dual goal of advancing community adaptation and resilience to safeguard Arctic residents against unavoidable climate impacts, while simultaneously investing in new development opportunities made possible by a warming world to expand economic prosperity. The to-be nominated Arctic ambassador will help realize these goals domestically in consultation and coordination with Alaska Native tribes, and abroad through cooperation with counterparts in Arctic and non-Arctic nations.

Releasing a robust strategy and establishing an ambassador position is a strong signal to Arctic residents and allies that the U.S. is back and ready to cooperate. But equally important in the shadow of Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine, it is also stern warning to America’s adversaries.

Over the past decade, Russia and China have taken advantage of a warming Arctic’s increased accessibility, expanding their investments and leadership claims in the region. Acknowledging their increased economic and military presence, the strategy names China and Russia as major competitors and potential challengers of the Arctic’s peace and stability. In response, it commits the U.S. to advancing its own military presence in the Arctic. Chief among these commitments is increasing cold climate exercises with NATO Allies and expanding the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaker fleet with three new Polar Security Cutters — the first icebreakers to be built in American shipyards in the past 45 years.

As encouraging as America’s newfound Arctic allegiance is, there is still a long road between U.S. Arctic policy today and its future as a leader in the region. The National Strategy for the Arctic will need to be mobilized from words of inspiration detailing what could be to implementation. And President Biden will need to nominate a climate-conscious, Arctic-proficient ambassador capable of a bipartisan confirmation by a post-midterm Senate. More daunting still, the concurrent crises of climate change and conflict in Ukraine with which the U.S. must contend as it executes its strategy and selects an ambassador are not static. The circumpolar spillover effects of the war are unclear, and the consequences of a rapidly warming world become more intense and frequent each year.

But it is also because of these two crises that U.S. leadership in the Arctic is more important now than ever before. And, perhaps for the first time since the purchase of Russian Alaska by Secretary of State William Seward in 1867, the U.S. is stepping up to claim its status as an Arctic nation.

Victoria Herrmann is a Senior Fellow at The Arctic Institute and Assistant Research Professor at Georgetown University.

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