Polar icebreakers are key to America’s national interest (Defense News)

Related Thinks provides links to external commentary and blog posts related to the Arctic.

Published by Defense News
19 October 2020
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In 1867, the U.S. secretary of State, William Seward, struck a deal to buy Alaska from Russia for 2 cents per acre. Critics panned the deal as wasteful and labeled it “Seward’s Folly.” But Seward’s strategic foresight has brought America a bounty of natural resources, a beautiful new frontier, and a pivotal edge in World War II and in the Cold War.

To this day, the waters off the Alaskan coast supply our nation with critical petroleum, fish stocks and deep-sea minerals. Yet, the United States is losing strategic ground in the Arctic to our adversaries Russia and China. A decisive tool in that rivalry is the icebreaker, a vessel uniquely equipped to cut through deep layers of Arctic ice.

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