A new cold war is upon us in the Arctic?

In August 2007, a pair of Russian submarines dropped to 14,000 feet at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean and planted a titanium flag at the North Pole. The fact, transmitted by the media throughout the world, obtained an immediate and strong condemnation in the West despite it had no legal weight. But 12 years later the Russian move is easier to understand. The 2007 was one of the hottest year and the summer artic ice pack was reduced to the lowest levels ever recorded. The frozen polar sea seemed to melt and Russia, in this move, was claiming whatever lay beneath the mud.

In the decade following that shock event, the Arctic underwent a major transformation, due to rising temperatures and attracted international attention. The countries with the Arctic territory and some nations without polar boundaries, have worked hard to take advantage of the last frontier of the Earth, through access to the rich deposits of the region of fish, gas, oil and other mineral resources.

Now the race for the conquest of the new world is underway. The Russian fleet with about 61 ships and another 10 under construction with icebreakers is the largest in the world. The Norwegian fleet has increased its capacity from 5 to 11 ships. South Korean shipyards are engaged in the construction of ice-breaking merchant ships and China has invested billions in Russia's liquid natural gas network.

Other Arctic nations, including the United States, Canada and Denmark, pay much less attention to their northern territories

The imbalance in the approaches to Arctic resources worries some observers who describe the polar cap as a cold theater in which nations will confront each other in the next Cold War.

In August 2018, NATO conducted an exercise in Norway, called Trident Juncture, with the participation of 50,000 soldiers from 31 nations. The huge operation provided a scenario in which northern Norway was invaded by enemy forces, prompting the Allies to run in its defense. Although the enemy has never been named, Norway shares the Arctic and maritime borders with Russia and tensions between the two nations have increased in recent years. Some observers fear that future disputes between neighbors about fishing or mineral rights could bring NATO into a conflict for which it is unprepared.