The Dragon and Great Power Rivalry at the Top of the World

The likelihood of military clashes in the Arctic is increasing daily, and the Arctic has become a potential flashpoint in international military security, the report concludes.40 Another newspaper article, originally from the People’s Liberation Army Daily and reposted on the Ministry of National Defense’s website, this time in early 2016, covers Russian military deployments in the Arctic in circu [...] He even foresaw and endorsed the eventual achievement of Chinese naval domination of the Arctic, where the PLAN would be “free to roam.” He foresees the Arctic as the next theatre for great power rivalry: After the year-long opening of the Arctic navigation routes, the geostrategic layout of the world will undergo massive changes and the Arctic region will become the next focal domain for great po [...] The Arctic is situated at the top of the world, and it has every one of the distinctive characteristics for becoming the central position and internal line of the Northern Hemisphere. [...] The article discusses the relative strengths, weaknesses, and military assets of the United States and Russia in the Arctic region in detail before ending first with the statement that developing the Arctic is the shared right of all humankind and then (finally) the point of the entire article: submarines that can operate well in the Arctic are the best ways to overcome the disadvantage of having [...] Discourse on Arctic Affairs operations – the dock-yards and coal depts – is secure … The offensive in naval war, as has been said, is the function of the sea-going navy – of the battleships, and of the cruisers of various sizes and purposes, including sea-going torpedo-vessels capable of accompanying a fleet … the backbone and real power of any navy are the vessels which, by due proportion of defe