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The Arctic

Gold rush under the ice

Aug 3rd 2007
From Economist.com

俄罗斯对北极地区虎视眈眈

俄罗斯入侵北极地区的举动是一个大胆的地缘政治冒险，在国内备受赞扬，而在国外饱受指责。这一地区丰富的自然资源冰封至今。但是全球变暖将使得开发这些资源成为可能。这个地区可能蕴藏着100亿吨的石油和天然气，以及锡、锰、金、镍、铅、铂和钻石等矿产，大量的鱼类和有利的航运通道。开采这些资源将面临着许多技术上的难题，甚至可能耗时数十年。可是，一旦冰层融化，冰层之下的资源归谁所有将成为一个热点问题。

根据《联合国海洋法公约》的规定，北极地区的五个国家——美国、加拿大、丹麦(which looks after Greenland’s interests)、挪威和俄罗斯，各拥有200海里“专属经济区”。俄罗斯在2001年宣布其大陆架延伸至北极地区，拥有对这一地区的主权。但是，联合国认为俄罗斯提供的证据不足。

这正是本周俄罗斯最具魅力的探险家Artur Chilingarov所领导的考察团所要证实的问题。通过获取海底的岩石样品，俄罗斯科学家希望能够证明海底山脉Lomonosov Ridge是俄罗斯大陆的延伸。 

这一举动将使得克里姆林宫在俄罗斯北部海岸线和北极之间获得46000平方公里的土地，大约相当于整个西欧的面积。类似于此的国际海界争端通常难以解决又令人厌倦。2004年，丹麦曾耗资250万美元，试图证明Lomonosov Ridge与格林兰岛相连，但是并没有引起国际社会的注意。

但是，俄罗斯这一次考察行动并不仅仅是收集地理学样品这么简单；8月2日，考察团将一面以钛为原料的俄罗斯国旗插在北极点以下4200米深的黄色砂砾层上。这是人类首次到达这一地区，而目前还没有别的国家拥有这一实力。这个考察团是由一只小型船队组成的，包括一艘核动力破冰船和一艘研究船，以及可以在北极冰层下航行和定位一艘高科技的小型潜水艇。

For outsiders used to stories of Russian bungling and backwardness, that was a salutary reminder of the world-class technical clout and human genius the Kremlin can still command.

更令人惊讶的是俄罗斯方面的外交辞令，俄罗斯总统弗拉及米尔·普京刚刚任命的北极地区“总统特别代表”Chilingarov表示：“北极地区属于俄罗斯，我们应该声明对这一地区的主权”。而俄罗斯北极和南极协会也表示，“这一举动就像人类把旗帜插在月球上一样意义深远。” 

虽然这一举动并不具有法律力量，但加拿大外长Peter MacKay仍然表示了他的不满：“这不是15世纪，不是你到一个地方，插一面旗子，就可以声称我们对这个地方以拥有主权的时代。”俄罗斯外长Sergei Lavrov坚持说他的国家并没有这么做。但是，前苏联议会的一个委员会的主席Andrei Kokoshin认为，俄罗斯“将积极地争取它在北极地区的权益”，并补充道，“应该考虑军事方面的问题，我们要重振北海舰队和我们的边防力量，建造飞机场，这样我们就可以获得对这一地区的绝对控制。”

自冷战结束以后就只保留了少量军事力量的加拿大目前计划耗资70亿美元，在北极地区布置8艘新的巡洋舰。美国国会也在考虑一项1000万美元的议案，这一议案计划改造三艘老化的北极破冰船并新建两艘破冰船。

但最大的改变可能是美国对待国际法的态度。A small but vocal lobby that objects to international administration of seabed mining has so far blocked the Bush administration’s attempts to have the Convention on the Law of the Sea ratified by Congress.但即使是最顽固的美国自由市场者也相信，在北极地区的公平分配上，与国际官僚打交道要比与克里姆林宫寡头资本周旋容易得多。

原文全文： 

The Arctic

Gold rush under the ice

Aug 3rd 2007
From Economist.com

Russia wants a vast slice of the Arctic

RUSSIA’s foray into the Arctic is an audacious geopolitical adventure, as popular at home as it is troubling for outsiders. At stake are the region’s natural riches, until now frozen both in law and in nature. But global warming is making them look more accessible. They may include 10 billion tonnes of oil and gas deposits, tin, manganese, gold, nickel, lead, platinum and diamonds, plus fish and perhaps even lucrative freight routes. Exploiting them will be technically tricky, and is probably decades away. But as the ice melts, the row is hotting up about who owns what’s underneath it.

The five Arctic Circle countries—America, Canada, Denmark (which looks after Greenland’s interests), Norway and Russia—each have a 200 mile (322km) “economic zone” allowed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Russia argued in 2001 that its continental shelf stretched out into the Arctic, entitling it to a larger chunk. The UN said it needed more evidence.

That is what this week’s expedition, led by Russia’s most glamorous explorer, Artur Chilingarov, is trying to prove. By taking rock samples from the seabed, it hopes to arm Russian scientists with proof that the Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater mountain chain, is a continuation of Russia’s landmass.

That would allow the Kremlin to annex a 460,000 square mile wedge of territory, roughly the size of western Europe, between Russia’s northern coastline and the North Pole. Such international maritime-border wrangles normally progress at a snail's pace, and are stupefyingly boring. When Denmark allocated $25m in 2004 to try to prove that the Lomonosov Ridge was connected to Greenland, few noticed or cared.

But the latest Russian expedition is not just collecting geological samples; on Thursday August 2nd it placed the Russian flag (in titanium) on the yellow gravel 4,200 metres below the surface at the site of the North Pole. That was the first manned mission there, mounted by a polar flotilla that no other country could match. A mighty nuclear-powered icebreaker shepherded a research vessel that launched hi-tech mini-submarines capable of pinpoint navigation under the Arctic ice.

For outsiders used to stories of Russian bungling and backwardness, that was a salutary reminder of the world-class technical clout and human genius the Kremlin can still command.

Even more startling, though, was Russia’s rhetoric. “The Arctic is ours and we should manifest our presence,” said Mr Chilingarov, a charismatic figure whom President Vladimir Putin has named as “presidential envoy” to the Arctic. “This is like placing a flag on the moon” said Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Institute.

The stunt has no legal force. But it still scandalised Canada’s foreign minister, Peter MacKay. “This isn’t the 15th century,” he complained. “You can’t go around the world and just plant flags and say ‘We’re claiming this territory’.” Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, insisted that his country was doing nothing of the kind. But Andrei Kokoshin, chair of a parliamentary committee on the ex-Soviet region, said Russia “will have to actively defend its interests in the Arctic”, adding: “There is something to think about on the military side as well. We need to reinforce our Northern Fleet and our border guards and build airfields so that we can ensure full control.”

Canada, punily defended since the end of the cold war, is now planning to spend $7 billion on eight new Arctic patrol vessels. America’s Congress is considering spending $100m to update three ageing polar icebreakers and build two more.

But the biggest change may be in America’s attitude to international law. A small but vocal lobby that objects to international administration of seabed mining has so far blocked the Bush administration’s attempts to have the Convention on the Law of the Sea ratified by Congress. But even the most die-hard American freemarketeer may have to accept that international bureaucrats are a better bet than the Kremlin’s crony capitalists when it comes to getting a fair slice of the polar action.