The Arctic is as of now hostage to global warming, with changes to the icecap, to fish stocks and to Russian and Canadian sea-routes. Huge oil and gas fields (Barents Sea), exports by land and sea of raw materials, the development of methane tankers, nuclear pollution risks (the Russian Kola Peninsula), the question of sovereignty and zones of influence, as well as the importance of the region for American missile defence, are all crucial issues in this changing geostrategic arena.
