Russia’s Claims to the Arctic Shelf…and Its Oil
It’s easy to declare a chunk of land belongs to your country. It’s a lot harder to put that into practice, especially when that new territory is one that’s in the center of the global warming debate. But Russia is trying to do just that, and took a new step in that direction yesterday.
On Sept. 23, President Dmitri Medvedev told his Security Council to start drafting plans for governmental policy in a huge area of the Arctic Shelf. The area is one of huge deposits of natural gas and shelf hydrocarbon. The area is also home to the Northern Sea Route, the quickest way to get from Europe to the Americas and Asia.
