Considerations on Russian-Chinese Arctic cooperation, by Lucas Leiroz

The Arctic will give Russia the ability to become an amphibious superpower. From Lucas Leiroz at strategic-culture.su:

The colonization of the Arctic will completely change the paradigms of geopolitics.

While Western strategists remain fixated on the old paradigms of Euro-Atlantic containment of Eurasia, a new geopolitical theater is silently emerging beneath the melting glaciers: the Arctic. Contrary to what was believed until recently, this inhospitable region is becoming the axis of a new global reorganization — led, as expected, by Russia and China. And most importantly: there is absolutely nothing the West can do to stop this process.

For decades, Western military and geopolitical doctrine ignored the Arctic. Obsessed with Anglo-Saxon manuals for containing the Heartland — the core of Eurasia — the U.S. and its NATO allies focused on peripheral encirclement, investing in military interventions, foreign bases, and proxy wars. The rhetoric centered on “democracy” and “human rights,” but the real objectives were always military positioning and logistical control. Meanwhile, Russia was building icebreakers and consolidating infrastructure to survive in the Far North.

Russia is, by definition, a land power. But geopolitics does not forgive those who ignore the sea. Achieving an “amphibious nature,” as geostrategy teaches, is a survival requirement for continental powers. Currently, Russia does not dominate its maritime exits: to the west, it is surrounded by NATO’s “lakes”; to the east, it is confronted by U.S. bases in the Pacific. The answer lies to the north. The Arctic represents, for Russia, a natural path to break through blockades and achieve global logistical reach. And China understands this perfectly.

With the gradual melting of polar ice caps, the Arctic has opened as a new arena for competition and exploration. The region offers not only energy and mineral resources, but something even more strategic: control over maritime routes capable of reshaping global trade. The so-called Arctic Silk Road, led by Beijing with Russian support, is one of today’s major geoeconomic initiatives.

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