25 March 2009 : In the News
Climate change is forcing Nato to consider expanding its operations into the 'high north'.
Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, commander-in-chief fleet and commander of Nato's allied maritime component command, told the International Institute for Strategic Studies the move was the subject of "considerable debate".
An ice-free Arctic is currently envisaged before the middle of the 21st century and some estimates suggest it could occur as soon as 2013.
The implications for shipping, which could develop a shorter route to south-east Asia, are significant. Arguably more so in strategic terms, Adml Stanhope argued, is the region's energy resources.
"There is considerable debate about what role there is for Nato in the high north," he told the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Russia has already planted its flag on the Arctic seabed amid disputes over which parts of the region can be defined as being on its continental shelf.
Adml Stanhope suggested the opening-up of the Arctic could lead to the renewal of difficulties with Russia.
"There will be a lot of issues downstream of that, some of which might develop into areas of tension," he added.
"We have to recognise of the nations [closest to the high north] all except Russia are members of Nato. So we just need to be aware everybody has varying views about how much tension or not there will be."
Adml Stanhope, who will become the first sea lord this summer, said immigration, piracy, the dangers of nuclear proliferation and arms trafficking had shifted Nato's importance towards the maritime sphere.
The organisation lacks a conceptual basis around which to structure its afloat operations, however. "We have no in-date framework for current operations," he said.
But work has now begun on such a document as Nato expands its maritime operations further and further afield. An operation to Australia designed to show Nato's naval capability to the region is underway and a separate deployment is expected to arrive off the coast of Somalia within the next 48 hours.
