"U.S. Is Playing Catch-Up With Russia in Scramble for the Arctic"

"ABOARD COAST GUARD CUTTER ALEX HALEY, in the Chukchi Sea — With warming seas creating new opportunities at the top of the world, nations are scrambling over the Arctic — its territorial waters, transit routes and especially its natural resources — in a rivalry some already call a new Cold War.

When President Obama travels to Alaska on Monday, becoming the first president to venture above the Arctic Circle while in office, he hopes to focus attention on the effects of climate change on the Arctic. Some lawmakers in Congress, analysts, and even some government officials say the United States is lagging behind other nations, chief among them Russia, in preparing for the new environmental, economic and geopolitical realities facing the region.

'We have been for some time clamoring about our nation’s lack of capacity to sustain any meaningful presence in the Arctic,' said Adm. Paul F. Zukunft, the Coast Guard’s commandant."

Steven Lee Myers reports for the New York Times August 29, 2015.

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"U.S. Lags Behind Russia And Other Nations in the Arctic" (McClatchy)