A new cold war: The militarization of the Arctic

Global Watch | 2025-08-15

The Arctic, once a desolate expanse of ice and silence, is now humming with the mechanical roar of engines and the quiet tension of geopolitics.

Satellite images reveal a patchwork of new airstrips, radar domes and military bases piercing through the white landscape. What was once a frozen frontier, largely untouched by global rivalry, is quickly becoming one of the most strategically contested regions on Earth.

The shift is as stark as the landscape itself. Accelerated by climate change, the Arctic is melting faster than scientists once believed possible.

Once-impassable routes like the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route are becoming navigable for longer portions of the year. By some estimates, the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer by 2035, transforming global trade and logistics.

For shipping companies, these routes promise speed and savings.

Beneath the permafrost and under the Arctic seabed also lies an estimated 13% of the world's undiscovered oil and nearly 30% of its natural gas. Rare earth minerals -- critical for modern electronics and clean energy technology -- remain untapped.

The rising military footprint

Nations that share a border with the Arctic -- Russia, the United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark (through Greenland) -- are racing to claim their stakes.

But increasingly they are doing so with warships, missile systems and strategic outposts rather than treaties and scientific research.

As ice recedes, the line between national claims and international waters becomes blurred and nations are arming themselves to draw those lines by force if necessary.

The region's strategic position makes it more than a matter of commerce. The Arctic is effectively a missile highway between nuclear powers -- the shortest route for intercontinental ballistic missiles between Russia and the United States crosses directly over the North Pole.

Early-warning radar systems, satellite tracking stations and cutting-edge weapons testing sites have made the Arctic an increasingly militarized high ground, where national security concerns intersect with economic ambition.

Russia, with the largest Arctic border, has taken the lead in transforming the polar landscape into a fortified frontier.

The Kremlin has refurbished dozens of Soviet-era bases, including facilities on the Kola Peninsula and along the Northern Sea Route.

Advanced S-400 missile systems stand watch over icy coastlines, and nuclear-powered icebreakers -- capable of clearing shipping lanes year-round -- are patrolling the Arctic seas. Hypersonic-capable submarines, invisible beneath the polar ice, represent the cutting edge of Moscow's military ambitions.

Moscow views the Arctic not as a shared global zone but as an economic lifeline and a defensive buffer.

Russian officials have openly declared that foreign attempts to challenge its claims in the Arctic will be met with appropriate military measures. This posture is not just about defense; it's about asserting dominance over new trade routes and resource extraction zones.

Arctic presence

In response, the United States and NATO allies are also stepping up their presence. The Pentagon has reactivated long-dormant Cold War installations in Alaska and Greenland, conducting Arctic warfare training and surveillance operations to counter Russian advances.

NATO exercises like Cold Response and Trident Juncture are designed to demonstrate that the West will not cede control of the Arctic without a fight. The US military's 2024 Arctic Strategy explicitly names both Russia and China as the greatest strategic threats in the polar region.

China, though not an Arctic nation, is making its presence felt in subtler ways. Beijing has declared itself a "near-Arctic state" and invested heavily in polar infrastructure. Its Polar Silk Road, part of the Belt and Road Initiative, aims to secure shipping routes through Arctic waters and establish research bases --some of which Western analysts suspect could have dual-use military applications.

While China claims its interests are purely scientific and commercial, the strategic implications of its growing footprint have not gone unnoticed.

The militarization of the Arctic is no longer a distant, abstract possibility. It is happening now, driven by climate change, economic ambition and a shifting balance of power.

What was once a land of ice and quiet resilience is becoming the latest arena for global rivalry -- a silent, frozen chessboard where the stakes are as high as the seas are cold.