You should click through to get their annotated map, which provides a fuller explanation of which countries with what weapons are vying for control over new shipping lanes. Suffice to say, nothing but good times:
Before our eyes, the Arctic is changing from an impenetrable wasteland into an oceanic crossroads. The polar ice cap has lost up to half its thickness near the North Pole in just the past six years… it is now shrinking at more than three times the rate predicted by the [IPCC]… the Arctic may well be ice-free in summer by 2013. The opening of a new waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans is akin in historic significance to the opening of the Suez Canal, in 1869, or is Panamanian cousin, in 1914. With this sea change will come the rise and fall of international seaports, newfound access to nearly a quarter of the world’s remaining undiscovered oil and gas reserves, and a recalibration of geo-strategic power.
Russia – a country that coincidentally borders the Arctic and has recently sent warships into disputed Arctic waters – is developing lethal new long-range nukes. US Democrats, meanwhile, have spent their time blocking the Bush administration’s efforts to maintain the reliability or credibility of our own nuclear stockpile:
The U.S. needs new nukes… Congress and the Bush administration have been wrestling for years over the so-called Reliable Replacement Warhead — the next generation of nuclear weapon designs. Lawmakers have had the upper hand in the match, eliminating funding for RRW… “To be blunt, there is absolutely no way we can maintain a credible deterrent and reduce the number of weapons in our stockpile without resorting to testing our stockpile or pursuing a modernization program,” Gates says, according to his prepared remarks… Everyone else is doing it.…The United Kingdom and France have programs to maintain their deterrent capabilities. China and Russia have embarked on ambitious paths to design and field new weapons“
Which shouldn’t really be a problem unless there’s a reason we might confront Russia or China in new parts of the world over the next few years. If that’s the case then it would be a breathtaking betrayal of American interests. Although, in fairness, it’s not like Obama looks eager to stand up to Putin anyway.
References:
* Sea Change [The Atlantic]
* Russia tests out new lethal nuke [The Sun]
* Defense Chief: Give Us New Nukes, or Else [Danger Room]
* Detente In Our Time – Russia Moves Missiles To NATO’s Border, Obama And EU Prepare To Cave [MR]
Previously:
* Russia To Give Iran 85 Tons Of Enriched Uranium
* Great News: Egypt Modernizing Its Army With Cutting-Edge Military Tech
* Libya Getting Hooked Up With Russian Nuclear Tech
