Cold Front: Conflict Ahead in Arctic Waters

by David Fairhall

Overview

The Arctic. Land of ice and the six-month day, irresistible goal for explorers and adventurers, enduring source of romance and mystery, and now also a poignant and unavoidable indicator of the impact of climate change.

As the ice cap shrinks, the geography of the entire Arctic region changes—clear shipping channels replace immovable ice and inaccessible oil resources become available. What will be the long-term consequences of these cataclysmic changes, not only environmentally but also socially and politically? How will the lives of the many individuals who depend upon the natural resources of the Arctic be changed? And how will the global powers that wish to exploit the region’s many assets respond?

Cold Front is not just another attempt to predict the outcome of global warming. It offers a clear-sighted and penetrating investigation of the Arctic’s pivotal role in international relations, placing the polar region in its historical, political, and legal context. The thawing of the ice cap creates huge opportunities for trade and transport—and therefore also for conflict between Arctic nations. This beautifully written investigation provides insight, answers, and hope for the future of the region.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619020580
Publisher:	Counterpoint Press
Publication date:	11/27/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 5.50(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

List of illustrations X

List of Maps xi

Acknowledgements xii

Foreword XV

Preface xvii

Introduction XX

The Arctic Arena 1

Thickness matters 3

Coming in from the cold 5

An alarming opportunity 7

The barking dog 10

Tipping point 12

Frozen Assets 15

Russian company 16

Lamp oil and corsets 17

Cod wars 18

Striking it rich 20

A state within a state 23

Turning off the gas 24

A different ball game 25

The Law of the Sea 27

An altruistic tradition 28

Going to the ball 29

Within cannon shot 31

Rights of passage 32

On the shelf 32

Who owns the North Pole? 33

A Russian fist 37

Significant geology 39

Fishing for facts 41

Ice bears that go bump in the night 42

Rights of access 44

Cold Warfare 47

The most valuable piece of real estate in NATO' 48

A helping hand 49

Island of the donkey's ears 50

The sailor Czar 51

Krushchev's herrings 53

A hint of violence 55

Wakening bear 56

The silent service 58

Polar snapshots 60

Coming up for air 62

East by North 63

As plausible as the English Channel' 63

Gin on the rocks 64

Wishful thinking 67

Spared the gallows 68

Logistical nightmare 70

Filling in the blanks 72

'The man who ate his boots' 74

Dip circle 75

Creating a Victorian legend 76

Home from home 78

Ice trap 80

No English gentleman... 81

'My mission on earth' 82

Two skeletons, some chocolate and a little tea 83

Going native 84

Short Cuts 87

First night 89

Canalside view 90

Second time unlucky 91

Bolsheviks in Cold Waters 93

With Stalin's compliments 96

Wonderland 97

Wishful thinking 98

'Strength through joy' for Stakhanovites 99

The Bakayev plan 100

Arctic gateway 101

Atomic relations 102

Czar Bomba 103

Half-life 104

'You get used to it' 105

Breaking the Ice 107

A nuclear pioneer 109

Out of the ordinary 110

A difficult birth 112

Atomic takeover 113 A polar giant 115

Back to front 116 Nuclear tourism 118

'Water where it didn't use to be' 119

Ottawa's bribe 121

Polar attitudes 122

North-West Passage 125

Inuit know-how 126

An icebreaking leviathan 128

Arctic surgery 129

Pyrrhic victory 130

'Inflamed nationalists' 131

The 'arctic exception' 132

'Use it or lose it' 134

A political voice 135

Mackenzie's oil 137

What the whales will hear 138

Arctic bridge 139

Not just polar bears 140

North-East Passage 141

Baffling statistics 143

Ice cellar 145

Late developer 146

No need to queue 147

Second refusal 149

Practical doubts 151

Turn of the tide 152

Living on borrowed time 153

Eco-tourism 155

Conquest and assimilation 157

Great expectations 158

'A resource base for the twenty-first century' 159

Ice shuttle 161

Mother of all icebreakers 162

Across the Top of the World 165

Changing course 169

Reality check 171

Hidden beauty 172

Meltdown 175

Alarm call 178

Abruptness 182

From meltdown to shutdown? 183

Possible Outcomes 187

Double negative 188

Dangerous waters 190

Shipping forecast 194

Northern Poll 197

A Chronology 205

Index 211

Editorial Reviews

Due to recent acceleration in ice-cap melting, both of the Arctic Ocean's North-East and North-West passages briefly opened in August of 2008, bringing attention to the seldom discussed ramifications of climate change on international relations. With Greenland, Norway, Russia, Canada, and the U.S. all laying claim to waters surrounding the North Pole, Fairhall (The Guardian's Defense Correspondent during the Cold War) warns of the disputes regarding commercial rights and traffic through the Arctic Ocean. Examples of potential conflict abound, posing challenges to agreements like The Spitzbergen Treaty of 1920 and the UN convocation on the Law of the Sea, both of which attempted to establish who had access to undersea natural resources. Even foreign ships' rights of innocent passage have come under scrutiny, as the boundaries of territorial waters become more difficult to delineate. Fairhall's history section outlines periodic attempts to conquer these two passages and clarifies how important and difficult it will be to govern the Arctic region. Climate change is destructive enough in itself, but the political implications the author points out induce deep breaths in anticipation of a truly cold war. Agent: Anne Nicholson, I.B. Tauris (Dec.)EXILE ON WALL STREET: One Analyst's Fight to Save the Big Banks from ThemselvesMike Mayo. Wiley, $29.95 (208p) ISBN 978-1-118-11546-6"The crisis didn't occur because of something that banks did. No, it was the natural consequence of the way banks are, even today." Financial analyst Mayo has had experience with many of the big names in banking, so it would seem prudent to heed this claim. In an attempt to shed light on what led to the financial crisis and how we can avoid another one, Mayo uses his life and career in the financial sector as a guide, beginning his account in the late 1980s with the S&L crisis and his years at the Federal Reserve. Later, he would work for UBS, Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse, and Prudential, gaining a reputation for good work and tough, but accurate, calls. Mayo discusses the mortgage crisis and the unintended effects of subprime loans, the Lehman collapse, regulators, and the entire history of Citi, including its role in the 1929 stock market crash. Rather than simply calling foul, Mayo offers his vision for an improved version of capitalism with better systems of accounting and none of the "financial shenanigans" that have plagued the industry and weakened the economy. However, he still thinks someone should take the blame: "failure needs to carry consequences, and those consequences should be steep." Agent: David McCormick, McCormick & Williams (Nov.)GABBY: A Story of Courage and HopeGabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly, with Jeffrey Zaslow. Scribner, $26.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-4516-6106-4Astronaut Kelly's 2007 marriage to Arizona Congresswoman Giffords marked another milestone in lives dedicated to the betterment of the state of Arizona, the nation, and the space program. But when Giffords was shot in the head in early 2011, the couple's lives took a direction neither could've anticipated. Told by Kelly, this stirring account traces family stories, the logistics of living through a medical nightmare, and his simultaneous struggle to command his final space mission. Determined to focus on that command, yet driven by his desire to meet Giffords's needs, Kelly split care-giving duties with her mother, recalling that throughout the ordeal "my wife was relentless." Later, the painstaking procedures of cranial surgery are detailed, along with the slow, miraculous recovery that culminated in Giffords's trip to Washington, D.C. to vote on the debt ceiling bill. Other achievements and challenges during the year-particularly for Giffords's loyal staffers-are also duly noted. Giffords herself, in simple, coherent language, provides a final page about her ongoing recovery to conclude this picture of a victorious human spirit. (Nov.)* THE IMAGE OF THE BLACK IN WESTERN ART, VOLUME III: From the "Age of Discovery" to the Age of Abolition, Part 2: Europe and the World Beyond Edited by David Bindman and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Harvard/Belknap, $95 (496p) ISBN 978-0-674-05262-8Inspired to collect images of Africans and the diaspora during the height of the Civil Rights movement, Dominique Schlumberger de Menil and her husband John amassed over 30,000 images as an artistic and academic counter against racism. These images were sorted, studied, and grouped into a series of volumes originally published in the late 1970s and early 1980s; long out of print, they are now beautifully reproduced along with additional color plates and scholarly commentary. This edition focuses on the depictions of blacks during the 16th-18th centuries. Due to Eurocentric attitudes of the time, few works depict black individuals; rather, people of African descent were often studied at an anthropological level and commonly depicted as pages, slaves, or servants. Though the series has rightfully become embraced by academia, even armchair historians will find the book to be a feast of information and commentary. Digressions on the black Magus and the debate about the race of Madonna and Jesus are fascinating, but it is the breathtaking collection of artwork that makes the greatest impact. The rich and varied array, printed on high-quality paper, must be seen to be fully appreciated. (Nov.) 1,000 PLACES TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE: Second EditionPatricia Schultz. Workman, $32.95 (1216p) ISBN 978-0-7611-6337-4The original has formed the bucket list for hordes of eager travelers, and this updated guide will do exactly the same (but better). Schultz has added 200 new entries, hundreds of color photographs, and a great deal of new material that will whet readers' appetites for trips all over the globe. She does a decent job of striking a balance between offering high-end as well as budget travel options, and she covers destinations in creative ways, such as splitting the famed Irish capital into "Edible Dublin" and "Literary Dublin." For those with tight schedules, thoughtful delineations like these can transform a hectic day of sightseeing into a veritable curated tour. While the guide is unsurprisingly European and American focused (Europe gets more than 350 pages; Africa barely gets 70), Shultz covers familiar and obscure attractions with equal enthusiasm. The guide is not meant to be a photo album, but this new edition's photographs (though small) will surely get readers excited about new destinations. Supplemental online resources admirably compensate for the book's biggest flaw (no index) by providing travelers looking to tailor their trips with several themed indexes such as "Sacred Places" and "Gorgeous Beaches and Getaway Islands." This is a great resource for readers in the midst of packing their bags as well as those still waiting to feel the wanderlust. (Nov.)Steve JobsWalter Isaacson. Simon & Schuster, $35 (656p) ISBN 978-1-4516-4853-9If not the greatest of computer moguls, the late Apple Computer co-founder was certainly the most colorful and charismatic to judge by this compelling biography. Journalist Isaacson (Albert Einstein) had his subject's intimate cooperation but doesn't shy away from Jobs's off-putting traits: the egomania; the shameless theft of ideas; the "reality distortion field" of lies and delusions; the veering between manipulative charm and cold betrayal; the bullying rages, profanity and weeping; the bizarre vegetarian diets that he believed would ward off body odor and cancer (he was tragically wrong on both counts). Isaacson also sees the constructive flip-side of Jobs's flaws, arguing that his crazed perfectionism and sublime sense of design-he wanted even his computers' circuit boards to be visually elegant-begat brilliant innovations, from the Mac to the iPad, that blended "poetry and processors." The author oversells Jobs as the digital artiste pitting well-crafted, vertically integrated personal computing experiences against the promiscuously licensed, bulk-commodity software profferred by his Microsoft rival Bill Gates. (Gates's acerbic commentary on Jobs's romanticism often steals the page.) Still, Isaacson's exhaustively researched but well-paced, candid and gripping narrative gives us a great warts-and-all portrait of an entrepreneurial spirit-and one of the best accounts yet of the human side of the computer biz. Photos.
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Publishers Weekly

Praise for Cold Front

"Evocative." —Washington Post

From the Publisher