According to Cleo Paskal, an Assistant Fellow at Chatham House and an expert on how climate change will affect borders, Russia is a step ahead of the other Arctic countries -The Russians have a big head start. Their nuclear submarines have been all over the Arctic for decades, they have 16 icebreaking ships to the Americans’ four, they have a lot of experience and a lot of the right gear, he says to the newspaper. -And they have a lot to gain. Apart from fossil fuels, there are important fisheries that will increasingly move north with global warming. Strategic control of the Arctic is within their reach, he adds. There is, however, little chance of everyone playing fair when so much it as stake, journalist Nick Meo writes. According to him, United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea, which governs maritime territorial claims, is likely to sow as many disputes as it solves. The legal position of the area is confusing, to say the least, and could set the scene for some potentially spectacular disputes in the future, he believes. Meanwhile, Russian northerners are proud of their country’s enhanced engagement in the Arctic. -We were very proud when our flag was planted under the North Pole. We had a little celebration here, said Yelena Gnezdilova, a local hotelier in the Russian town of Barentsburg at the Spitsbergen archipelago, says. According to the newspaper, the Russian consulate in Barentsburg is now bustling with activities as Russian scientists come to visit the settlement’s research station.
