A new northern security - Environmental and Human Security in the Arctic - page 50

Among them are the nuclear weapons system and the command, control,
communication and intelligence systems, as well as military activities such
as the strategic nuclear submarines patrolling in the Arctic Ocean (see also
Heininen 2010a; Wezeman 2012). Thus, as mentioned earlier, the region has
a high strategic importance politically and militarily, especially for the USA
and Russia.
When applying the resource models of geopolitics, the fact remains that
the circumpolar North is rich in natural resources. Indeed, according to the
AHDR, the annual gross product of the circumpolar North was about $US
230 billion in 2001 . 5 T his figure mostly consists of oil and natural gas drill-
ing, for which production is foremost intended for southern latitudes of the
northern hemisphere to meet the energy needs of the centres of developed
countries (Duhaime 2004). Further, if Eurasia plays a big role in the global
game, then the western part of the Eurasian North has a special role due to its
rich natural resources, especially the fossil minerals of West Siberia and the
shelves of northern seas. It has even been predicted that the Eurasian North
might become a new 'Heartland' of energy, and the Barents Region as its
sub-area will develop into a 'big oil playground' or a 'geopolitical hub' (see
Brunstad et al. 2004; Flamini 2005). Indeed, this process has already started.
Following from this and indicating the continuing relevance of classical
geopolitics and political power based on new realism at the beginning of
the twenty-first century, northern or Arctic geopolitics includes two main
phenomena: first, (mega) projects that utilize natural resources, consequently
increasing transportation and plans for new navigation routes, and, second,
state-centrism emphasizing the importance of state sovereignty and national
security, including military capability and presence in the region. This is, of
course, a new version of state politics relevant to globalization and globalized
world economics. For example, if earlier governments mostly controlled the
utilization of natural resources in the North, today trans-national corpora-
tions together with state-owned and controlled corporations are active and
mobile in transferring investments and labour into the region for larger prof-
its. Correspondingly, national and sub-national governments try to attract
these corporations and their investments to the region for jobs. Further, if the
above-mentioned actions are interpreted to describe traditional security and
the importance of economics in national security, then there are also other
relevant aspects and factors, such as environmental degradation and climate
change and the uncertainty related to them, influencing security in general
that emphasize the relevance of a comprehensive security in the Arctic. The
following are among the relevant and interesting aspects of this more human-
oriented northern security:

1 Pollution and environmental degradation: Many existing, as well as

expected, environmental conflicts of, and in, the North are due to
the increased utilization of, and competition over, natural resources.