Su uno degli ultimi numeri dei Proceedings of US Naval Institute c'è un articolo scritto dal CINC della US Coast Guard Robert J. Papp Jr., decisamente interessante ed emblematico già nel titolo:
The emerging arctic frontier. Ecco di seguito le prime battute:
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The emerging arctic frontier
In the last Proceedings of US Naval Inst. the Adm. John Papp, USCG Commander, wrote an article on the Arctic. Here is the incipit:
"As a maritime nation, the United States relies on the sea for our prosperity, trade, transportation, and security. We are also an Arctic nation. The Arctic region—the Barents, Beaufort, and Chukchi seas and the Arctic Ocean—is the emerging maritime frontier, vital to our national interests, economy and security.
The Arctic Ocean, in the northern region of the Arctic Circle, is changing from a solid expanse of inaccessible ice fields into a growing navigable sea, attracting increased human activity and unlocking access to vast economic potential and energy resources. In the 35 years since I first saw Kotzebue, Alaska, on the Chukchi Sea as a junior officer, the sea ice has receded from the coast so much that when I returned last year the coastal area was ice-free. The shipping, oil-and-gas, and tourism industries continue to expand with the promise of opportunity and fortune in previously inaccessible areas. Experts estimate that in another 25 years the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free during the summer months.
This change from “hard” to “soft” water, growing economic interests and energy demands, and increasing use of the seas for maritime activities by commercial, native, and recreational users demands a persistent, capable U.S. Coast Guard presence in the Arctic region. Our mandate to protect people on the sea, protect people from threats delivered by sea, and protect the sea itself applies in the Arctic equally as in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea.
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