Issue Brief
May 28, 2026 • 4:10 pm ET
Kyoko Imai, Connor McPartland, and Audrey Roh
Bottom lines up front
Melting ice and rising sea levels increase the strategic importance of Arctic sea routes and natural resources to great power competition. Washington’s withdrawal from Arctic climate research has created a vacuum, that if left unfilled by likeminded democracies is sure to be captured by adversaries.In close concert with Nordic security partners, Tokyo must step up its contributions to Arctic rules-based governance by building on its foundations of scientific and environmental resilience.
