The Roof of the World

An excerpt from an interesting essay by Garrett Baldwin, a colleague of mine, on the next arena of the Cold War as competition between the US and Russia heats up among the ice floes:

“Russia is working overtime to pump crude oil and natural gas out of ports in the Arctic Circle.

“It’s a workaround as Western sanctions crank down on Russia and its energy firms and politicians in Moscow.

“Think of it as Prohibition…

“But to get around an alcohol ban, a bar has converted its upstairs into a bakery – but still sells booze through hoses in the basement to another building – where it is sold out the back alleys to willing drunks.

“China will take all the Russian oil it can get.

“India too.

“Russia is drastically increasing Arctic-borne shipments across the Northern passage to China. But they’re also getting more ambitious. News emerged that Russia sent a tanker around the Norwegian Sea and the coast of Ireland to Brazil. (They’re also selling natural gas 50% off.)

“To expedite those shipments, Russia has increased its fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers.

“How has the US responded? Recently, our Navy punted the responsibility for icebreaking to the Alaskan Coast Guard, which has one operational mega icebreaker built in the mid-1970s.

“But not all hope is lost.”

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