Arctic Negative

Impact Defense
Arctic war is unlikely
Beckhusen 12 (Beckhusen, Robert. "Russia and Canada Gear Up for Arctic Non-War | Danger
Room | WIRED." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 07 Aug. 2012. Web. 23 July 2014.
<http://www.wired.com/2012/08/arctic/>. Robert Beckhusen is a contributor at wired.com Fred).

war is exceedingly unlikely because Russia would lose. For one, the United States
has an overwhelming and decisive advantage in submarines. U.S. subs are
more advanced, there are more of them, and their crews are better trained. Its unlikely Arctic
nations would also begin killing each other over low-key and remote
territorial disputes.
But a

Artic Conflict wont happen

Admiral Stavridis 13(Admiral James Stavridis, retired US navy admiral, High North or High
Tension?
online:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/10/21/high_north_or_high_tension_arctic_competition)

ood humor aside, the general's point is reasonably well

taken. The likelihood of a conventional offensive military operation
in the Arctic is very low, despite some commentators'
overheated rhetoric. While there are many diplomatic and
ecological challenges, the odds are good that the international
community will eventually find its way to a true zone of cooperation
around the Arctic Circle and manage to avoid turning the region -the last frontier on Earth -- into a zone of needless conflict.

Russia conflict wont escalate, Russia will cooperate with

US in the artic
Admiral Stavridis 13(Admiral James Stavridis, retired
US navy admiral, High North or High Tension?
online:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/10/21/high_north_or_high_tension_arctic_competition)

Third, we need to work as closely as we can with Russia in

the Arctic. Although we will inevitably have disagreements over
other topics, it is possible the High North could be a zone of
cooperation with the Russian Federation. We have shown the ability
to work together in Afghanistan, on counternarcotics and
counterterrorism, in combating piracy, and in strategic arms control
and reductions. We should do what we can -- working with

NATO allies -- to make it so.

Russias economy is resilient- foreign reserves provide a

backstop to oil price decline
Adomanis 13 (Mark, Forbes contributor, specializes in Russian economics,
Why Russias economy isnt going to collapse,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markadomanis/2013/01/07/why-russiaseconomy-isnt-going-to-collapse/)

Hating Russias economy is a full-time job for many people. Owen Matthews in
Newsweek is perhaps the most colorful of the bunch, but the difference between Matthews and other
Western journalists is primarily one of degree not of kind. Ive been following Russia very closely for about
a decade now, and Ive simply lost count of the number of analyses Ive read arguing that the end is nigh
and that the economys final implosion is mere months away. These articles vary greatly in quality, but the
basic indictment of Russias economy consists of a number of actually quite reasonable observations on

after getting
decimated during the worse days of the financial crisis, Russias
economy has been plugging along with steady and unremarkable
growth in the 3-4% range, hardly world beating but actually faster than almost
the countrys corruption, red tape, and over-reliance on natural resources. However,

every country in the EU. As more time has passed and Russias economy has
defied predictions by continuing to not collapse, Ive become increasingly
convinced that its economic stability has been somewhat underrated and
that, despite its many faults, its basic economic model is quite likely to endure
through the short and medium terms. I certainly dont think that Russia is going to

become some sort of economic hegemon, but it seems far more likely than not that it will evolve gradually,
and not through some titanic rupture or revolutionary upheaval. But my hunches and inclinations arent
very good evidence, so I thought I would put a few charts together which show why I think that Russias
economy is basically going to stay stable over the next several years and that its a huge mistake to
predict a cataclysm which will sweep away the dread Putin. 1.The price of Brent crude has stayed
remarkably robust despite chronic economic weakness in the developed world. I suppose its possible that
the EU will never emerge from its current doldrums, but I think that the developed world will eventually get
out of its funk and start to grow again. When it does that growth will likely drive the price of oil even
higher, or at least prevent it from going much lower. 2.

Russia still has very large

foreign reserves , some of the largest in the entire world. Although you
often hear, as in Matthews piece, that the Russians used to be responsible with their oil money, now

Russia still has very large foreign

reserves that amount to almost 25% of its GDP. Note the similarity
theyre become totally reckless and irresponsible,

between the oil price graph and Russias foreign reserves, their shapes are almost identical. While the

they can be very handy in averting

economic catastrophes, and, as you might expect, the Russians drew heavily
on their foreign reserves during the worst days of the 2008-09 crisis .
utility of foreign reserves can often be overstated,

reserves provide a cushion that will help to

shield Russia from a future shock, such as a rapid
and massive decline in the price of oil. Of course theres still the

I think that the

chance that Russia will suffer a slow and gradual decline in competitiveness, but what Im pushing back
against is not that argument but the argument that the whole house of cards is going to collapse in the

The Russian government still runs a budget surplus,

and its spending as a percentage of GDP is not very high. From Januarynext couple of years. 3.

October 2012 Russia ran a budget surplus of about 1.4%, smaller than the 2011 figure (3.2%) but a surplus
nonetheless. Russias total level of government spending (about 32% of GDP) hardly seems outrageous or
unsustainable. Additionally, despite a lot of loose and foolish talk from the Russian defense ministry about
it looming re-armament campaign, Russias budget spending is more weighted towards the social sphere
than the military industrial complex. Courtesy of the Gaidar institute, heres a graph showing where
Russias consolidated government spending was directed in the first ten months of 2012: The Gaidar
institute is hardly a Kremlin outfit, indeed the overall tone of the report to which I linked is actually quite
gloomy* and critical of the authorities, and considering its track record I dont think that it would have
spun the numbers in a more pro-Putin direction. When analyzing any countrys budget posture you need to
focus on where the money is actually being spent. While theres been an awful lot of talk about
comprehensively re-arming the Russian military,

the actual level of spending remains

relatively small and well within the countrys ability to pay. The pursestrings are clearly somewhat looser than they used to be, but a quick glance at Russias budget certainly
doesnt give the impression of a totally reckless and debauched approach. 4. Ru ssian

unemployment is at or near a post-Soviet record low . Russias labor market

isnt exactly a model for anyone else, but its arguably more robust now than its ever been before. I think
that this will act as a sort of stabilizing influence in its own right, but, more importantly, it might allow the
government to feel comfortable enough to do some tinkering and implement a few moderate reforms.

the government is more likely to undertake some modest

liberalization if the labor market is healthy and its confident that
people will be able to find jobs than if the unemployment rate is already trending upwards
Basically,

(unemployment is obviously highly politically sensitive in performance legitimacy regimes like Russias).

Several Barriers make Russia economic collapse inevitable

Forbes 13(Kenneth Rapoza, analyst for Brazil, Russia, and China, Russias Three Biggest
Problems online:http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2013/01/24/russias-three-biggest-problems/
Russia is not going to be the next big thing, Frances Hudson, Global Thematic Strategist at Standard Life

There is a corporate
governance issue and an over-reliance on oil and gas at a time when
they may lose their pricing power in Europe once U.S. starts
exporting natural gas.Russia will lose out to strong competition in
the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector and elsewhere. 2. Weak
Institutions Russias institutional environment ranking 133 out of 144 countries in the World
Investments in Edinburgh, said in an interview with Forbes.

Economic Forums Global Competitiveness Index 20122013, the development of the countrys institutions

Many of the inefficiencies in the government

apparatus can be attributed to high levels of corruption. Russia is
represents one of its key challenges.

characterized by much higher levels of corruption than other countries with similar levels of development.
While Russia is the sixth largest economy worldwide in GDP, corruption levels are higher than in countries
such as Togo or Uganda, according to Transparency International. Some argue that corruption has
become engrained in the countrys system of wealth creation and distribution. In this perspective,
corruption may be seen by some as a necessary evil to maintain stability and control over productive
processes in the economy. 3.

Social Cohesion Trust within society and towards

institutions and decision-makers is a key indicator of a societys
ability to fully develop its productive potential . On all of these fronts, there
are signs Russia faces significant uncertainties. The number of
professionals seeking to leave Russia exceeds 50% in certain
segments. This not only reduces the creative potential to support
economic development in the country, but accentuates capital flight
and reduces domestic consumption. The same conditions also affect the
countrys ability to attract foreign talent, which could play an additional role in the next stage of
developing the Russian economy. The situation has grown so acute that some participants in this
project expressed despair at the fact that Russia has, alongside its better-known role as energy exporter,
become a full-blown exporter of financial and human capital.(A rise in) wealth has been accompanied in
recent years by a rise in diverse forms of popular discontent, including frustrations with the delivery of
public services, perceived impediments to pursuing professional aspirations and restraints on political

quality of its domestic institutions and the dynamics of

social cohesion have created barriers in the quest to fully develop the
countrys physical and human resources. This combination could be a key impediment to
Russias future economic development given that these resources
are the countrys most important assets.
freedoms. The

Gazprom wont cooperate with the US

Mazneva 14(Elena Mazneva, analyst at Bloomberg.com Apr 4, 2014Gazprom Stops Courting
U.S. Investors After Crimea Crisis online:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-04/gazprom-stops-

Gazprom will
stop marketing to U.S. and European investors after the Crimea crisis and work to
increase bond and shareholders from the Middle East, Latin America
and Asia, especially China. Senior managers at Russias gas-export
courting-u-s-investors-after-crimea-crisis.html)Russias largest company OAO

told
investor relations staff to find more shareholders in Asia and other
emerging markets after completing investor meetings in New York and
monopoly, which has a market value of $90 billion and $37 billion of outstanding bonds,

London in early March, two people with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be named

The shift shows how the worst crisis in Russian

relations with the U.S. and Europe since the Cold War is feeding into financial and
economic relationships. China was the only country not to vote against
Russias action in Ukraine at the United Nations Security Council and
because the policy is private.

President Vladimir Putin travels to Beijing in May hoping to sign a 30-year gas-supply
deal.Russia is grateful to the people of China for their position on Crimea and Ukraine, Putin

Eastern partners are more constructive, wiser and

pragmatic than Western, Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukaev said a week later,
adding that Russia should sign new contracts and agreements in
Asia.Western sanctions may bring Russia and China closer together,
said March 18.

wrote the Russian Embassy in Beijing on its official Sina Weibo account on March 25.

Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexey Miller together with Deputy

Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich plans to visit China next week,
people with knowledge of the matter said. Among a range of issues,
greatest prominence will be given to a 30-year natural gas supply
contract, one of the people said without elaborating. Gazprom executives also plan to visit
the Boao Forum next week, considered an Asian alternative for the World Economic Forum in
Davos. Not only Miller and Dvorkovich, but also Gazprombank head Andrey Akimov and
Gazprom Neft (SIBN) CEO Alexander Dyukov are scheduled to participate, according to its
website.

US Heg will always be high, will continue to lead global

growth
Fareed Zakaria 8, editor of Newsweek International, 2008, The PostAmerican World, p. 182-3) When trying to explain how America

will fare in the new world, I sometimes say, "Look around."

The future is already here. Over the last twenty years,
globalization has been gaining breadth and depth. More
countries are making goods, communications technology has
been leveling the playing field, capital has been free to move
across the world. And America has benefited massively from
these trends. Its economy has received hundreds of billions of
dollars in investment a rarity for a country with much capital of its own. Its companies have entered new countries
and industries with great success and used new technologies and processes, all to keep boosting their bottom lines. Despite two
decades of a very expensive dollar, American exports have held
ground. GDP growth, the bottom line, has averaged just over 3 percent for twenty-five years, significantly higher than in
Europe. (Japan's averaged 2.3 percent over the same period.) Productivity growth, the elixir of modern economics, has been over 2.5 percent for

. The United States is currently ranked as the most competitive economy in the world by
the World Economic Forum. These rankings have been produced every year since 1979, and the U.S.
a decade now, again a full percentage point higher than the European average

position has been fairly constant, slipping sometimes in recent years to small northern European countries like Sweden, Denmark, and
Finland (whose collective population is twenty million, less than that of the state of Texas). America's superior growth trajectory might be petering

the general
pointthat America is a highly dynamic economy at the cutting
edge, despite its enormous sizestill holds. Look at the
industries of the future. Nanotechnology applied science
dealing with the control of matter at the atomic or molecular
out, and perhaps its growth will be more "normal" for an advanced industrial country for the next few years. But

scaleis considered likely to lead to fundamental breakthroughs

over the next fifty years. At some point in the future, or so I'm told,
households will construct products out of raw materials, and businesses
will simply create the formulas that turn atoms into goods. Whether this
is hype or prescience, what is worth noticing is that by every
conceivable measure, the United States dominates the field. It
has more dedicated nanocenters than the next three
nations (Germany, the United Kingdom, and China) combined, and
many of its new centers focus on narrow subjects with a high
potential for practical, marketable applications such as the
Emory-Georgia Tech Nanotechnology Center for Personalized and
Predictive Oncology. At market exchange rates, government
nanotech funding in the United States is almost double that of
its closest competitor, Japan. And while China, Japan, and
Germany contribute a fair share of journal articles on nanoscale
science and engineering topics, the United States has issued
more patents for nanotechnology than the rest of the world
combined, highlighting America's unusual strength in turning
abstract theory into practical products. The firm Lux, led by Dr. Michael Holman, constructed
a matrix to assess countries' overall nanotech competitiveness. Their analysis looked not just at nanotechnology activity but also at the ability to
"generate growth from scientific innovation."12 It found that certain countries that spend much on research can't turn their science into business.
These "Ivory Tower" nations have impressive research funding, journal articles, and even patents, but somehow don't manage to translate this

gory. A full 85 percent of

venture capital investments in nanotechnology went to U.S.
companies. Biotechnologya broad category that describes the use of biological systems to create medical, agricultural, and indusinto commercial goods and ideas. China, France, and even Britain fall into this cate

trial productsis already a multibillion-dollar industry. It, too, is dominated by the United States. More than $3.3 billion in venture financing went to
U.S. biotech companies in 2005, while European companies received just half that amount. Follow-on equity offerings (that is, post-IPO) in the
United States were more than seven times those in Europe. And while European IPOs attracted more cash in 2005, IPO activity is highly volatilein 2004,
U.S. IPO values were more than four times Europe's. As with nanotechnology, American companies excel at turning ideas into marketable and lucrative
products. U.S. biotech revenues approached $50 billion in 2005, five times greater than those in Europe and representing 76 percent of global
revenues.* Manufacturing has, of course, been leaving the United States, shifting to the developing world and turning America into a service
economy. This scares many Americans and Europeans, who wonder what their countries will make if everything is "made in China." But

Asian manufacturing must be viewed in the context of a global

economy in which countries like China have become an
important part of the supply chainbut still just a part.

Solvency
Scientific diplomacy does not solve
Dickson 10 (David. Director of SciDev.net. Science in diplomacy: On tap but not on top. June
28, 2010. http://scidevnet.wor...onference-2010 FRED).

Theres a general consensus in both the scientific and political worlds that the principle
of science diplomacy, at least in the somewhat restricted sense of the need to get more and better
science into international negotiations, is a desirable objective. There is less agreement,
however, on how far the concept can or indeed should be extended to embrace
broader goals and objectives, in particular attempts to use science to achieve
political or diplomatic goals at the international level. Science, despite its
international characteristics, is no substitute for effective diplomacy . Any more
than diplomatic initiatives necessarily lead to good science. These seem to have been the broad
conclusions to emerge from a three-day meeting at Wilton Park in Sussex, UK, organised by the British
Foreign Office and the Royal Society, and attended by scientists, government officials and politicians from
17 countries around the world. The definition of science diplomacy varied widely among participants. Some
saw it as a subcategory of public diplomacy, or what US diplomats have recently been promoting as soft
power (the carrot rather than the stick approach, as a participant described it). Others preferred to see
it as a core element of the broader concept of innovation diplomacy, covering the politics of engagement
in the familiar fields of international scientific exchange and technology transfer, but raising these to a
higher level as a diplomatic objective. Whatever definition is used, three particular aspects of the debate
became the focus of attention during the Wilton Park meeting: how science can inform the diplomatic
process; how diplomacy can assist science in achieving its objectives; and, finally, how science can provide
a channel for quasi-diplomatic exchanges by forming an apparently neutral bridge between countries.
There was little disagreement on the first of these. Indeed for many, given the increasing number of
international issues with a scientific dimension that politicians have to deal with, this is essentially what
the core of science diplomacy should be about. Chris Whitty, for example, chief scientist at the UKs
Department for International Development, described how knowledge about the threat raised by the
spread of the highly damaging plant disease stem rust had been an important input by researchers into
discussions by politicians and diplomats over strategies for persuading Afghan farmers to shift from the
production of opium to wheat. Others pointed out that the scientific community had played a major role in
drawing attention to issues such as the links between chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere and the
growth of the ozone hole, or between carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. Each has made
essential contributions to policy decisions. Acknowledging this role for science has some important
implications. No-one dissented when Rohinton Medhora, from Canadas International Development
Research Centre, complained of the lack of adequate scientific expertise in the embassies of many
countries of the developed and developing world alike. Nor perhaps predictably was there any major
disagreement that diplomatic initiatives can both help and occasionally hinder the process of science. On
the positive side, such diplomacy can play a significant role in facilitating science exchange and the launch
of international science projects, both essential for the development of modern science. Europes
framework programme of research programmes was quoted as a successful advantage of the first of
these. Examples of the second range from the establishment of the European Organisation of Nuclear
Research (usually known as CERN) in Switzerland after the Second World War, to current efforts to build a
large new nuclear fusion facility (ITER). Less positively, increasing restrictions on entry to certain countries,
and in particular the United States after the 9/11 attacks in New York and elsewhere, have significantly
impeded scientific exchange programmes. Here the challenge for diplomats was seen as helping to find
ways to ease the burdens of such restrictions. The broadest gaps in understanding the potential of
scientific diplomacy lay in the third category, namely the use of science as a channel of international
diplomacy, either as a way of helping to forge consensus on contentious issues, or as a catalyst for peace
in situations of conflict. On the first of these, some pointed to recent climate change negotiations, and in
particular the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as a good example, of the way that
the scientific community can provide a strong rationale for joint international action. But others referred to
the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit last December to come up with a meaningful agreement on
action as a demonstration of the limitations of this way of thinking. It was argued that this failure had been
partly due to a misplaced belief that scientific consensus would be sufficient to generate a commitment to
collective action, without taking into account the political impact that scientific ideas would have. Another
example that received considerable attention was the current construction of a synchrotron facility
SESAMEin Jordan, a project that is already is bringing together researchers in a range of scientific
disciplines from various countries in the Middle East (including Israel, Egypt and Palestine, as well as both
Greece and Turkey). The promoters of SESAME hope that as with the building of CERN 60 years ago, and

its operation as a research centre involving, for example, physicists from both Russia and the United States
SESAME will become a symbol of what regional collaboration can achieve. In that sense, it would become
what one participant described as a beacon of hope for the region. But others cautioned that, however
successful SESAME may turn out to be in purely scientific terms, its potential impact on the Middle East
peace process should not be exaggerated. Political conflicts have deep roots that cannot easily be papered
over, however open-minded scientists may be to professional colleagues coming from other political

there was even a warning that in the developing world, high

profile scientific projects, particular those with explicit political backing, could
end up doing damage by inadvertently favouring one social group over
another. Scientists should be wary of having their prestige used in this way; those who did so could
come over as patronising, appearing unaware of political realities. Similarly, those who hold
science in esteem as a practice committed to promoting the causes of peace
and development were reminded of the need to take into account how
advances in science whether nuclear physics or genetic technology have
also led to new types of weaponry. Nor did science automatically lead to the reduction of
global inequalities. Science for diplomacy therefore ended up with a highly mixed review. The
consensus seemed to be that science can prepare the ground for diplomatic
initiatives and benefit from diplomatic agreements but cannot provide the
solutions to either. On tap but not on top seems as relevant in international settings as it does in
contexts. Indeed,

purely national ones. With all the caution that even this formulation still requires.

Alt cause; they cant solve climate change which is the

root cause of military challenges in the Arctic
Heininen 13 (Heininen, Lassi. "Valdai. . Discussion Club.
." Climate Change in the Arctic: Geopolitical and Security Implications. N.p., 24 Sept.
2013. Web. 23 July 2014. <http://valdaiclub.com/economy/63020.html>. University Lecturer and Professor
at Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lapland, Finland. Among his other academic positions are
Adjunct Professor at Frost Center for Canadian Studies, Trent University, Canada; Adjunct Professor at
Faculty of Geography, University of Oulu, Finland; and Visiting Professor at University of Akureyri, Iceland.
He is also the chairman of the International Steering Committee for the Northern Research Forum. Fred).

Climate change entails not only socio-economic but also military challenges
to the Arctic region, thus might lead towards the remilitarization of the
region. The increasing competition for trade routes, maritime zones and
natural resources has already led and continues to lead to a military build-up
of particular coastal states and intensification of NATO military activities in
the region. In contrast with the Cold war era, the current military efforts aim at
protection of economic interests of the Arctic states and assertion of their
national sovereignty over the maritime zones and trade routes rather than global
confrontation between two superpowers or military blocs. To give some examples of military buildups in
the region, for instance, Canada plans to create a 5000-strong ranger unit in its North. The U.S. and
Canada are modernizing the NORAD system. Besides, the U.S. is strengthening its Alaska Command and
even plans to deploy an ABM system in the Arctic region (either land-based in Northern Norway and/or seabased if ice retreating to continue). Norway is engaged in a quite impressive program to modernize its
coastal guard (including five new frigates acquisition). Russia has resumed it strategic aviation flights over
the Northern Atlantic, develops its Northern Fleet (including its nuclear component) and plans to create
special Arctic troops to control its Arctic Ocean coastline. Moreover, according to the so-called Stoltenberg
Report of 2009, the five Nordic nations (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) decided to create
joint military units as well as air monitoring system and SAR infrastructures which are specially designed
for the Arctic. They also plan to create a space group of three satellites to enhance the above structures
capabilities in communications and navigation. These developments affect the international security
regime in the region in a very negative way. Many experts believe that a special arms control regime for

the Arctic should be negotiated and legal mechanisms to solve climate

change-related conflicts should be developed. The proposals to develop a
system of confidence- and security-building measures in the region are made
by the international expert community as well.

An Arctic treaty inevitably fails too many disputes

Watson 9 (Watson, Molly. "AN ARCTIC TREATY: A SOLUTION TO THE INTERNATIONAL DISPUTE OVER
THE POLAR REGION." AN ARCTIC TREATY: A SOLUTION TO THE INTERNATIONAL DISPUTE OVER THE POLAR
REGION (n.d.): n. pag. Www.mainelaw.com. 2009. Web. 23 July 2014.
<https://www.mainelaw.maine.edu/academics/oclj/pdf/vol14_2/vol14_oclj_307.pdf>. Springfield,
Massachusetts Area | Public Relations and Communications Current Consultant at EverestPR, Consultant at
Ritz Communications Past Communications Consultant at Westfield State University, Public Relations
Consultant at Noble Hospital, Vice President at GCI Group, Fred).
With regard to claims of territorial sovereignty ,

an Arctic treaty might approach the issue

in one of three ways: (1) divide the Arctic among the States based on some
formula agreed upon by the States; (2) direct that the territorial division will
be determined under UNCLOS procedure ; or (3) like the Antarctic Treaty,
freeze all State territorial claims. The first option for dividing the Arctic is
improbable, as the current dispute exists for the very reason that the States
cannot agree. The next option is also unlikely so long as the United States
refuses to ratify the UNCLOS treaty . The United States is not apt to agree to an Arctic treaty

that resolves the dispute through the UNCLOS process if it remains unable to participate within its
framework. However, were the United States to ratify UNCLOS, such an approach may prove effective.
Within this option, an Arctic treaty could indicate that UNCLOS is to govern the States sovereignty claims
while other provisions of the treaty could address the concerns unique to the Arctic not covered by
UNCLOS. States, such as Russia, who have already begun working under the laws of UNCLOS, would likely
favor this approach, as they will be able to continue in the UNCLOS process of submitting claims to the
CLCS. By establishing UNCLOS as the governing law, the Arctic States will be bound by the
determinations made by the CLCS, and left without alternatives under, for example, customary law.

even were the United States to ratify UNCLOS, this approach is

potentially problematic because the CLCS has no actual authority to settle
disputes or enforce its recommendations. Thus, should more than one State claim the
However,

same territory, as will inevitably occur, it is unclear how the Commission will proceed.165 Claims made by
one State are subject to counter-claims by other States, and while the CLCSs recommendations are
binding, the body has no power to enforce them.166

Case Turns

Note If you dont want to run the Russia SOI DA, the
link/internal link cards can independently serve as case
turns to the 1AC
Artic exploration causes ocean acidification, destroys
indigenous communities food source and no more
McDonalds filet-o-fish
Leonard 13( George Leonard, director of strategic initiatives at Ocean
Sonservancy. Ocean Acidification: A Pain in the Arctic, online:
http://blog.oceanconservancy.org/2013/05/17/ocean-acidification-a-pain-inthe-arctic/)
Even though oil companies have greatly improved practices in the Arctic,
three decades of drilling along Alaska's North Slope have produced a
steady accumulation of harmful environmental and social effects
that will probably grow as exploration expands, a panel of experts has
concluded. Some of the problems could last for centuries, the experts said in
a report yesterday, both because environmental damage does not heal
easily in the area's harsh climate and because it is uneconomical to
remove structures or restore damaged areas once drilling is over.
The report, produced by the National Research Council, was immediately
hailed by opponents of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which
lies east of established oil fields and is the only part of America's only stretch
of Arctic coastline that for now is off limits to drilling. Advocates of drilling
called it biased. Administration officials said improved techniques
would lessen the environmental impact of future drilling. The council,
the research arm of the National Academies, an independent advisory body
on science, produced the report at the request of Republican lawmakers
supporting oil drilling in the Arctic refuge. (The report can be found on the
Web at nas.edu.) No matter where you live, if you go outside and start
walking north, at some point youll reach the Arctic Ocean. A vast expanse
at the northern reaches of the planet, the Arctic Ocean supports a
dizzying array of ocean wildldife, including the charismatic and
much threatened polar bear. Most readers of The Blog Aquatic know that
summer sea ice has been rapidly melting, caused by human-induced
climate change from our ever rising global carbon emissions. Indeed,
the concentration of carbon dioxide in the global atmosphere just
broke a new record high. But more poorly understood is that carbon
dioxide is beginning to undermine the Arctic ocean itself through a
process called ocean acidification. No less than 10 key scientific findings
can be found in a just-released assessment of ocean acidification undertaken
by an international group of independent scientists. Their assessment will be
presented to the Arctic Council Ministers in Kiruna, Sweden this week. Called
the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), the scientists
spent the last three years detailing the effects of ocean acidification on
the Arctic, and exploring the consequences for the four million
people living there. The assessment concludes that the Arctic is

particularly sensitive to ocean acidification, in part because the

especially cold Arctic water absorbs more carbon dioxide than
warmer waters to the south. In addition, the regions ocean food
web is also unusually vulnerable because it consists of only a few
keys species that are themselves vulnerable to changing ocean
chemistry. Most troubling, ocean acidification poses real threats to
local indigenous peoples who depend on Arctic resources for
sustenance, for their livelihoods, and for their culture. These new
insights into ocean acidification in the Arctic foreshadow similar processes
underway in waters south of the Arctic Ocean in the Bering Sea. In these sub-

Filet-o-Fish sandwiches
and California rolls prosper, ocean acidification also is a

Arctic waters where future

direct threat to Alaskas fishing industry. Alaskas signature catch of

cod, salmon, and crab is enjoyed by seafood consumers across the U.S. and
around the world. And with over $1.6 billion in revenue in 2010 and 53,000
jobs at stake Alaska is rightly worried about how acidification could
impact their industry. A new study published by NOAA Fisheries scientist
Dr. Chris Long has documented how more acidic waters decimate
juvenile red king crabs and tanner crabs, an economically important
fishery in Alaska. Along with the AMAP report, Dr. Longs research is just the
tip of the iceberg in terms of how ocean acidification may disrupt northern
marine food webs, including for economically important species and those of
cultural significance.

Hegemony fails-U.S power projection promotes

geopolitical conflict
Christopher Layne 2, Associate Professor
in the School of International Studies at the University of Miami, 2002[U.S.
RESPONSES TO THE LOOKING GLASS: Offshore Balancing Revisited, Washington
Quarterly, Spring, p. Lexis]In concrete terms today, Western Europe, China,
Russia, and Japan are aligned with the United States to deal with the common
threat of terrorism. Because the coalition partners have differing interests, the
coalition may fragment if the United States acts unilaterally to expand the war on
terrorism. Even if the coalition should hold together until the war on terrorism is
terminated, the conflicting geopolitical interests that divide the United States and
its partners will then surely resurface because coalitions and alliances are never
more than marriages of convenience. Western Europe again will seek to
counterbalance U.S. "hyperpower." The Europeans, Russia, and China will oppose
U.S. missile defense deployment. Russia will be suspicious of NATO expansion
into the Baltic States and the projection of U.S. power into Central Asia. China will
continue to pursue its great-power emergence and will contest the United States
for supremacy in East Asia. The war on terrorism, in other words, is merely an
interlude in international politics, not the harbinger of everlasting global harmony
based on acceptance of U.S. primacy. Although U.S. policymakers have convinced
themselves that the United States is a benign hegemon, no such animal exists in
international politics. A hegemon is a threat to the security of others simply
because it is so powerful. The United States is not immune to the kind of
geopolitical blowback experienced by previous hegemonic aspirants. Thus, in a
self-help world the United States must perform the strategic equivalent of
threading a needle. It cannot abrogate its freedom to act unilaterally to defend

its interests, but Washington needs simultaneously to find a grand strategy that
reduces fears of U.S. preponderant power, thereby reducing incentives to engage
in counterhegemonic balancing directed at the United States. A good starting
point is the war on terrorism itself.

US hegemony leads to a constant cycle of never ender

war in an attempt to create a stable international system
Christopher Layne 98, Visiting Associate Professor at the Naval
Postgraduate School, 1998

[World Policy Journal, Rethinking American grand strategy: Hegemony or balance of power in the twentycentury? vol. 15 iss. 2, Summer, proquest]Indochina and Bosnia demonstrate
how the strategy of preponderance expands America 's frontiers of
insecurity. The posited connection between security and economic interdependence requires the
United States to impose order on, and control over, the international system. To do
so, it must continually enlarge the geographic scope of its strategic
responsibilities to maintain the security of its already established
interests. As the political scientist Robert H. Johnson observes, this process becomes self-sustain- ing
because each time the United States pushes its security interests
outward, threats to the new security frontier will be apprehended :
"Uncertainty leads to self-extension, which leads in turn to new uncertainty
and further self-extension." 16 Core and periphery are interdependent strategically;
however, while the core remains constant, the turbulent frontier in the
periphery is constantly expanding. One does not overstate in arguing that this
first

expansion is potentially limitless. Former na- tional security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski recently has
suggested, for example, that NATO expansion is just the first step toward creating an American-dominated
"Trans Eurasian Security System" {TESS}, that ulti- mately will embrace Russia, China, Japan, India, and
other countries-- a security struc- ture "that would span the entire {Eurasian} continent." 17 There is a
suggestive parallel between late Victorian Britain and the United States today. The late- nineteenth-cenury
British statesman Lord Rosebery, clearly recognized that economic interdependence could lead to strategic
overextension: Our commerce is so universal and so penetrating that scarcely any

question can arise in any part of the world without involving British interests . This
consideration, instead of widening, rather circumscribes the field of our actions. For did
we not strictly limit the principle of intervention we should always be
simultaneously engaged in some forty wars. 18 Of course, it is an exaggeration to sug-gest
that the strategy of preponderance will involve the United States in 40 wars simultaneously. It is not,
however, an exag- geration to note that the need to defend America 's perceived interest

in maintaining a security framework in which economic interdependence can

flourish has become the primary post-Cold War rationale for expanding its
security commitments in East Asia and in Europe. To preserve a security framework
favorable to interdependence, the United States does not, in fact, intervene everywhere; however, the
logic underlying the strategy of preponderance can be used to justify U.S.
intervention anywhere.

No impact to loss of heg-multiple factors prevent another

great power war
Gopal Balarishnan 3, New Left Review Author, 2003 [Algorithms of War,
New Left Review 23, Sept-Oct, http://www.newleftreview.net/NLR25701.]But this
very freedom from external balance-of-power constraints contains the danger of
a wilful exaggeration of threats and a casual underestimation of obstacles. The
discipline that a nuclear-armed Soviet Union once imposed on Americas rulers
has evaporated. The rhetoric of the Republican Administration is an ominous
anticipation of what might happen in the event of a world economic downturn.
Yet even an escalation of hostilities between the US and China or Russia, or
Europe or Japan, would be unlikely to reverse one of the central sociological
trends of the post Second World War era: the decline of mass militarism in
Western Europe and Japan after forty years of heavy casualty warfare, a process
that eventually reached the US during the high point of its Indochinese
operations. The enormous conscript citizen armies of the Great Power nationstate were either destroyed in the immediate aftermath of the War or discredited
in the last decades of colonialism. The raising of overarching nuclear umbrellas,
the advent of consumerism, the cultural neutralization of nationalist pathos in
public life, the final collapse of rural social strata from which both officers and
soldiers were recruited and the break-up of traditional gender roles sealed the
fate of an older Great Power politics. The only military interventions now capable
of soliciting domestic acclamation are those that demand no heavy sacrifices of
the home front. It is now well understood, as ballooning American deficits testify,
that under no circumstances can the social segment extending from the wealthy
to the super-rich be asked to bear the costs of empire.

Russia SOI DA

1NC
US is lagging heavily behind in the Arctic race
AP 14 (Associated Press. "U.S. Lags behind Arctic Nations in Race to Stake Claims to Untapped
Resources." PBS. PBS, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 23 July 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/us-lagsbehind-arctic-nations-in-race-to-stake-claims-to-untapped-resources/>. Fred).

The U.S. is racing to keep pace with stepped-up activity in the

once sleepy Arctic frontier, but it is far from being in the lead. Nations across
the world are hurrying to stake claims to the Arctics resources, which might be
WASHINGTON

home to 13 percent of the worlds undiscovered oil and 30 percent of its untapped natural gas. There are
emerging fisheries and hidden minerals. Cruise liners filled with tourists are sailing the Arctics frigid
waters in increasing numbers. Cargo traffic along the Northern Sea Route, one of two shortcuts across the
top of the Earth in summer, is on the rise. The U.S., which takes over the two-year rotating chairmanship of
the eight-nation Arctic Council in 2015, has not ignored the Arctic,

lagging behind the other seven:

but critics say the U.S. is

Russia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Canada and

Denmark, through the semiautonomous territory of Greenland. On

par with the other Arctic

nations, we are behind behind in our thinking, behind in our vision, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, RAlaska, said. We lack basic infrastructure, basic funding commitments to be
prepared for the level of activity expected in the Arctic. At a meeting before

Thanksgiving with Secretary of State John Kerry, Murkowski suggested he name a U.S. ambassador or
envoy to the Arctic someone who could coordinate work on the Arctic being done by more than 20
federal agencies and take the lead on increasing U.S. activities in the region. Murkowski is trying to get
Americans to stop thinking that the Arctic is just Alaskas problem. People in Iowa and New Hampshire
need to view the U.S. as an Arctic nation. Otherwise when you talk about funding, youre never going to
get there, Murkowski said. She added that even non-Arctic nations are deeply engaged: India and China
are investing in icebreakers. The U.S. has three aging icebreakers. The melting Arctic also is creating a
new front of U.S. security concerns. Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said expanding
Russias military presence in the Arctic was a top priority for his nations armed forces. Russia this year
began rehabilitating a Soviet-era base at the New Siberian Islands and has pledged to restore a number of
Arctic military air bases that fell into neglect after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin said he
doesnt envision a conflict between Russia and the United States, both of which have called for keeping the
Arctic a peaceful zone. But he added, Experts know quite well that it takes U.S. missiles 15 to 16 minutes
to reach Moscow from the Barents Sea, which is a part of the Arctic Ocean near Russias shore. While the
threat of militarization remains, the battle right now is on the economic level as countries vie for oil, gas
and other minerals, including rare earth metals used to make high-tech products like cellphones. There
also are disputes bubbling up with environmental groups that oppose energy exploration in the region;
Russia arrested 30 crew members of a Greenpeace ship in September after a protest in the Arctic. China
signed a free trade agreement with tiny Iceland this year, a signal that the Asian powerhouse is keenly
interested in the Arctics resources. And Russia is hoping that the Northern Sea Route, where traffic jumped
to 71 vessels this year from four in 2010, someday could be a transpolar route that could rival the Suez
Canal. In the U.S., the Obama administration is consulting with governmental, business, industry and
environmental officials, as well as the state of Alaska, to develop a plan to implement the U.S. strategy for
the Arctic that President Barack Obama unveiled seven months ago. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
rolled out the Pentagons Arctic blueprint last month, joining the Coast Guard and other government
agencies that have outlined their plans for the region. There are no cost or budget estimates yet, but the
Navy is laying out what the U.S. needs to increase communications, harden ships and negotiate
international agreements so nations will be able to track traffic in the Arctic and conduct search and rescue
operations. Critics,

however, say the U.S. needs to back the strategy papers

with more precise plans plus funding. With the country still paying for two
wars, the idea of spending money in an area considered a low security threat
makes the Arctic an even tougher sell. The problem with all of these strategies is that they
are absolutely silent on budget issues, said Heather Conley, an expert on the Arctic at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies. How do we meet these new challenges? Well, were going to have to
put more resources to them. Its dark. Its cold. Theres terrible weather. We need to enhance our own
satellite communications and awareness in the area as ships and commercial activity increases in the
Arctic. The

U.S. needs helicopters, runways, port facilities and roads in the

Arctic, she said not to mention better accommodations in small coastal towns that
have a shortage of beds and would be ill-equipped to handle an influx of tourists from a disabled cruise

ship. With few assets, the U.S. might be forced to borrow from the private sector. When Shell drilled two
summers ago in the Chukchi Sea and the Beaufort Sea, they had 33 vessels and the Coast Guard had one

Were not prepared. It may be another 10 years.

The Arctic is not going to wait, and the increased commercial and human
activity is already there. Other Arctic states are preparing more robustly, and
we are choosing not to.
national security cutter, Conley said.

Its a zero sum game Russia is willing to resort to force if

someone challenges their authority in the Arctic
OSullivan 14 (Sullivan. "Opinion: Arctic Development Could Ignite Next Great-Game
Competition." Breaking Energy. N.p., 28 Apr. 2014. Web. 23 July 2014.
<http://breakingenergy.com/2014/04/28/opinion-arctic-development-could-ignite-next-great-gamecompetition/>. Conor O'Sullivan is a writer at breakingenergy.com Fred).

The flag planting by a Russian submarine in August 2007 underneath the Arctic seabed
symbolized Russias intentions to use Arctic exploration as a means of
securing its desired imperial status pursuing a zero-sum game. The Kremlin
plans to establish a new international order in which it becomes a regional
hegemon. It is my opinion that Russia intends to end its role as an isolated
entity in international affairs, becoming closely integrated with the global economy and
dictating policy. Russian officials view the Arctic as securing its energy security
ambitions for the next century. Dwindling Russian gas and energy reserves, in
the underdeveloped Siberian fields, and over-reliance on European imports of
its natural gas has led to a push towards the Arctic. Russias jurisdictional
claim over the Arctic seabed will challenge the existing international law
criteria, the UNCLOS, which specifies jurisdictional authority over international waters. Arctic
stakeholders must be wary of Russian intentions over Arctic development,
considering the nationalistic rhetoric of the current government in power. Russias nationalized energy
companies maintain an influence in formulating Arctic Policy and influencing the Russian government to
their advantage. Russia will also use its energy security policy in the Arctic to become a naval superpower
as new shipping lanes for trade and energy production will run along its extensive northern coastline.

Russias actions in Crimea and the Ukraine emphasize their willingness to

revert to military action over issues of territorial sovereignty and that the U.S.
requires an assertive foreign policy with Russia. Ensuing competition over Arctic energy
resources and shipping lanes will increase geopolitical competition among the Great Powers. The Bering
Sea provides the U.S. with access to Arctic shipping lanes and can act as a strategic counterbalance to
Russia. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 13% and 30% of the worlds undiscovered oil and natural
gas respectively lies under the Arctic seabed. I believe that Arctic Council members, the Nordic States and
Canada, will align with the U.S. to impose strict restrictions over extraction and production in the Arctic
Ocean.

US-Russian relations are key to solve nuclear terrorism

and global stability
Graham 8 (Thomas Graham, Thomas Graham joined the Carnegie Endowment as a senior
associate in September 1998. His areas of interest include Russian domestic politics - especially leadership
issues, center-regional relations, and big business government ties - and U.S.-Russian relations Ph.D. in
political science from Harvard University and a B.A. in Russian studies from Yale University, US-Russia
Relations: Facing Reality Pragmatically, center for strategic and international studies, July 2008,
http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/080717_graham_u.s.russia.pdf Fred).
In this uncertain world, the United States and Russia are not strategic rivals, and
neither poses a strategic threat to the other (despite some overwrought Russian rhetoric to the contrary),
in contrast to the situation during the Cold War. Rather, they share a set of common strategic
challenges.

Russia, by virtue of its geographic location, and the United States,

by virtue of its global role, must build new relationships with a Europe that is expanding and

deepening; they

both must find a way to cope with the growing instability in the

Middle East.

the challenge to energy security that implies, and, at least for Russia, the threat that that
instability will infect Russias southern reaches: and they both must manage relations with a rising China.

In addition, both countries must deal with the dark side of globalization, and both have a
keen interest in the role and effectiveness of the institutions of global
governance, such as the United Nations and the G-8, the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund. Common challenges, however, are not the same as common interests. And there are deep
differences in the way the United States and Russia think of global order (consider, for example. the role
of democracy or the United Nations). But the question each country needs to ask is how important the

Given their standing as the

worlds two leading nuclear powers, the United States and Russia are each
indispensable to dealing with the problems of proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction, nuclear terrorism, and strategic stability. . The United
States, as the worlds largest energy consumer, and Russia, as the largest producer of
hydrocarbons, are essential to any discussion of energy security and energys
future. . Global economic dynamics and transfers of wealth will require bringing Russia, along with
other is to its achieving its own strategic goals. For example: .

China, India, and others, into a more central role in managing the global economy, a service long
performed by Europe and the United States. . In East Asia. to create a favorable new equilibrium, Russia
has an interest in a strong powerthat is, the United Statesacting as a moderating influence on China,
and the United States has no interest in a weakening Russian presence in Siberia and the Russian Far

In the Middle East, both

the United States and Russia have levers that could help promote stability, if
the two countries were working in concert, or fuel conflict, if they were not.
East. regions rich in the natural resources that fuel modem economies. .

2NC Extensions

Uniqueness
UQ: Russia has significant interest in the Arctic right now
Padrtova 7/20 (Padrtova, Barbora. "Russian Approach Towards the Arctic Region." Centre for
European and North Atlantic Affairs Analysis RSS. N.p., 20 July 2014. Web. 23 July 2014.
<http://cenaa.org/analysis/russian-approach-towards-the-arctic-region/>. Mgr. Barbora Padrtov holds a
Master degree in Security and Strategic Studies from the Faculty of Social Studies of the Masaryk
University in Brno. In 2009 she graduated in International Relations and European Studies from the
Metropolitan University in Prague. She also studied International Relations and Political Science at the
Universiteit Twente in Netherlands. In 2011 she worked at the Political Section of the Embassy of the
Republic of Iraq in Washington, D.C. Currently she is a project manager in CENAA. In her research she
focuses on Russian security and foreign policy, US-Russia relations, NATO-Russia relations, post-Soviet
region, and the Arctic region. Fred).

The Arctic is clearly vital to Russias relevance in world affairs. Natural

resources are one of the major forces driving Russian policy as they are viewed as
a basis for the economic development and determine its geopolitical influence. Moreover, the
Arctic has always played a significant role from the perspective of Russian
Navy. Russia is the only country in the world with a nuclear icebreaker fleet. On the geopolitical level,
the most important for Moscow is maintaining of nuclear deterrence by securing the open access of

Russia has a welldeveloped commercial and transport infrastructure to take advantage of

opportunities offered by the retreating icecap. The importance of the Arctic
to Russia on the one hand, and growing international interest on the other,
has fueled Russias determination to make its role as a central Arctic nation
eminently clear by political, economic, and military means. As part of its effort to create a
comprehensive presence in the Arctic, Russia has been steadily expanding
its military component there since 2007. Any foreign interest in the area,
government, commercial or environmental, is seen as hostile intent. Naturally,
submarines to worlds seas. As the forecast promises an ice-free Arctic by 2040,

Russian national interests will be challenged by other Arctic states all NATO members who can
theoretically speak with one voice against Russia. Thus the Arctic region is likely to become a region of
geo-political competition.

Link/Internal Link
Russia holds significant interests in the Arctic and is wary
of other foreigners
Mikkola & Kapyla 13 (Mikkola, Juha Kpyl & Harri. The Global Arctic:
The Growing Arctic Interests of Russia, China, the United States and the
European Union(n.d.): n. pag. Aug. 2013. Web. 22 July 2014.
<www.fiia.fi/assets/publications/bp133.pdf>. Juha Kpyl is researcher the
Finnish institute of international affairs. Harri Mikkola is a researcher the
Finnish institute of international affairs. Fred).
Russia is the most important player in the Arctic, with significant economic,
security and governance interests in the region. This is primarily because of natural

resources. Over 20% of undiscovered global hydrocarbon reserves are located in the Arctic area and most
of them in the Russian Arctic.4

These natu- ral resources are vital to Russian national

security and economy;

oil and gas alone account for roughly 20-25% of Russian GDP.5 Russias
domestic social programmes, infrastructure investments, and mili- tary modernization are all critically
dependent on revenues from natural resource export. Similarly,

important leverage for Russian foreign influence.

hydrocarbons provide
This is especially the case with energy-

The Arctic
plays an increasing role in this equa- tion as a strategically vital resource
base for Russia. So far, the Russian Arctic has been responsible for about 1015% of Russian GDP and 25% of its foreign exports and there are systematic
efforts to increase these figures. Russias increasing northward focus is also
due to the fact that Russias mature hydrocarbon sources in Western Siberia
are slowly drying up. Recent hydrocarbon activities in the Russian Arctic have taken place primarily
dependent Europe, where a third of the natural gas consumed is imported from Rus- sia.

through onshore projects in key locations such as the Yamal Peninsula and in nascent offshore projects on
the Arctic sea bed in the Barents, Pechora and Kara Seas. These offshore projects have often taken the
form of joint ventures between Russian and international energy corpora- tions. This signals Russias need
to seek investments and technological know-how through international cooperation. However, key
offshore projects such as the Shtokhman gas field and Prirazlomnoye oil field have turned out to be
extremely challenging and have been suffering from continuous delays and shuffling of foreign partners up
until today. Russia has also set its sights on resource bases outside its territorial borders and submitted a
claim for the extension of its continental shelf to the UN Com- mission on the Limits of the Continental
Shelf (CLCS) process as early as 2001. In order to access, exploit and deliver Arctic natu- ral resources to
global markets, Russia also aims to develop critical infrastructure in the Northern Sea Route (NSR),
including ports, search-and-rescue (SAR) centres, route administration, ice-breaking capability, and oil spill
response capabilities. In addition, non-maritime parts of the Arctic trans- port system pipelines, aviation
routes, railways, and roads and the overall socio-economic con- ditions of the region require development

Russia seeks to project its

sovereign authority in its wide Arctic region through improved border control
(FSB), to provide safety and security espe- cially in the NSR, and to maintain
credible forces to secure critical infrastructures. Russia also seeks to
maintain, develop and project a credible military force primarily naval,
aerial and missile assets in the region in order to be able to react in various
politico-military scenarios, as well as to deter the expansion of unwanted
foreign military presence into the (Russian) Arctic.
and modernization. Russia also has security interests in the Arctic.

Further US involvement risks Russian retaliation, actions

to gain influence in the Arctic could be detrimental
Aron 13(Leon Aron, Director of Russian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the
author, most recently, of Roads to the Temple: Truth, Memory, Ideas, and Ideals in the Making of the
Russian Revolution, The Putin Doctrine: Russia's Quest to Rebuild the Soviet State, foreign affairs
published by council of foreign relations, March 8, 2013,
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139049/leon-aron/the-putin-doctrine Fred).

Much in Russian foreign policy today is based on

a consensus that crystallized in the

early 1990s. Emerging from the rubble of the Soviet collapse, this consensus ranges across the political

three geostrategic
imperatives: that Russia must remain a nuclear superpower, a great power in
all facets of international activity, and the hegemon -- the political, military, and
economic leader -- of its region. This consensus marks a line in the sand, beyond
which Russia cannot retreat without losing its sense of pride or even national
identity. It has proven remarkably resilient, surviving post-revolutionary turbulence and the
spectrum -- from pro-Western liberals to leftists and nationalists. It rests on

change of political regimes from Boris Yeltsin to Vladimir Putin. After his election as president in 2000,

Putin added to this agenda an overarching goal: the recovery of economic,

political, and geostrategic assets lost by the Soviet state in 1991. Although he has never
spelled it out formally, Putin has pursued this objective with such determination,
coherence, and consistency that it merits being called the Putin Doctrine .

Domestically, the doctrine has guided the regime to reclaim the commanding heights of the economy (first
and foremost, the oil and natural gas industries) and reassert its control over national politics, the judicial
system, and the national television networks, from which an overwhelming majority of Russians get their
news. In foreign and security policy, the doctrine has amounted to a reinterpretation of Russia's
geostrategic triad, making its implementation and maintenance considerably more assertive than
originally intended. Although U.S. President Barack Obama has signaled lately that he will attempt to
revive the "reset" with Russia, Washington's best option may well be a strategic pause: a much-scaleddown mode of interaction that reflects the growing disparity in values and objectives between the two
countries yet preserves frank dialogue and even cooperation in a few select areas. THE PUTIN DOCTRINE
IN PRACTICE

Russia fears US encroachment in the Arctic its expansion

is a security threat
OBrien 9 (O'Brien, Gregory. "How to Read the Arctic: Structural Theory and the Balance of Arctic
Powers." Academia.edu. N.p., Spring 2009. Web. 23 July 2014.
<https://www.academia.edu/3476953/How_to_Read_the_Arctic_Structural_Theory_and_the_Balance_of_Arct
ic_Powers>. RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
DEGREE OF MASTER OF POLITICAL SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE FACULTY OF ARTS
AND SOCIAL SCIENCES Fred).

In response to this threatening 'non-presence' of the United States, and the

growing multipolarity of the global structure, Russia appears to be pursuing a path
towards establishing a new balance that would favour its Arctic power and
interests. On this point, Karen Ruth Adams argued in 2003 that US encroachment on the interests of
nuclear powers, including Russia, would propel the development of a new balance 'just around the

Russian Chief of Staff Lurii Baluevskii has been more direct; stating
that US commitment to its hegemony "expanding its economic, political, and
military presence in Russia's traditional zones of influence" is the country's
top national security threat.236 As a consequence, it is difficult to isolate the regional security
corner.'235

dilemma and polarity trends in the Arctic from the larger international environment. For example, Hubert et
al. note that events such as the Russian Georgian war could easily have led to 'chilled' relations among
Arctic Council states as a result of many of these states also being members of NATO.237 Secondly,

Huebert argues that because both the US and Russia are Arctic Great Powers,
any drive to increase power capabilities is likely to have an effect on the

Arctic balance, and hence, is an Arctic security issue. 238 Thus, the Arctic security
dilemma is in many ways inexorably linked to outcomes within the international structure. From this
vantage, the ability of Russia, or any comparable Great Power, to conduct itself in the Arctic isolated from

The value of the region is too great , relative gains

are too important, and Great Powers will strive to attain a more favourable
balance where their power is most fungible.
the global environment is unlikely.

The zero sum game is unavoidable 3 warrants

Bukkvoll 14 (Bukkvoll, Tor. "Prospects for Peace and Cooperation in the Arctic." Arctic.ru. N.p.,
2011. Web. 23 July 2014. <http://arctic.ru/expert-opinions/prospects-peace-and-cooperation-arctic>. Tor
BUKKVOLL is Head of the Russia Project at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment Fred).

It is of course true that many Arctic states are concerned with their economic
and security interests in the region and the danger of a regional conflict . This is
in part reflected in practically all Arctic states increased military presence in the area. At times we see

militarization. This is rooted in three main

causes: a zero-sum game over access to natural resources; an insufficient level of
trust among Arctic states; and the fact that the Arctic has been and will
remain a militarily sensitive area, especially for Russia. In addition, climate change
heated rhetoric and mutual accusations of

and the melting of the Arctic ice cap are likely to substantially increase commercial activity in the region.
This may lead to conflicts that are not yet apparent. Speaking

about oil and gas deposits,

this zero-sum game is unavoidable. Politics cannot increase the volume of
available hydrocarbon deposits. Delimitation agreements seem to be the only
way of defusing conflicts. The 2011 agreement between Norway and Russia on a close to fiftyfifty division of the Barents Sea shelf among the two countries is a case in point. It is, however, important
to note here that far from all hydrocarbon deposits are potential sources of political conflict. In fact, many
and probably most deposits are located in undisputed areas. In addition, the possibilities for cooperation
on infrastructure, technology development, etc., in connection with oil and gas exploration and
development activities, might also make this issue less zero-sum.

Arctic Council CP

1NC

Note: One probably notes that its the counterplan links to the DA
since US will participate in these arctic meetings. You need to make
the distinction that the arctic council will pacify Russia and allow for
cooperation between the arctic nations and the US. That way the
disadvantage is a net benefit to the counterplan.

Counterplan Text: The Arctic Council should <insert plan

text here>
The Arctic Council solves for miscommunication and
tensions in the Arctic
Stavridis 13 (Stavridis, James. "High North or High Tension?" Foreign Policy. N.p., 21 Oct. 2013.
Web. 23 July 2014.
<http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/10/21/high_north_or_high_tension_arctic_competition>.
Former supreme commander of NATO. He is now the Dean of Tuft's University Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy. Fred).

we need to double down on international cooperation via the Arctic

Council. Currently a small-scale international organization, it must be nurtured and resourced.
Second,

Ratification of the U.N. Law of the Sea Treaty, a perennial topic in American foreign policy, would also
increase U.S. influence in the Arctic. For the United States, working closely with Canada in particular and
our NATO partners in the Arctic generally makes good sense and would reduce costs to individual nations.

We should use the Arctic Council to ensure that each nation's military
movements, intentions, and patterns of operation are fully understood -- thus
reducing the prospect of inadvertent tension. There are also important socalled "Track II" projects, like the rapidly growing annual conference
sponsored by ArcticCircle.org, a loose confederation of experts in the region who met in Iceland
last week. Third, we need to work as closely as we can with Russia in the Arctic. Although we will

it is possible the High North could be a

zone of cooperation with the Russian Federation. We have shown the ability to work
inevitably have disagreements over other topics,

together in Afghanistan, on counternarcotics and counterterrorism, in combating piracy, and in strategic

arms control and reductions. We should do what we can -- working with NATO allies -- to make it so.

2NC Extensions

Solvency
The Arctic Council can do mapping
CAFF 14 (CAFF. "Arctic Council to Produce Harmonized Map Covering Region Read More:
Http://climate-l.iisd.org/news/arctic-council-to-produce-harmonized-map-covering-region/."
Climate.issd.org. N.p., 18 July 2014. Web. 24 July 2014. <http%3A%2F%2Fclimate-l.iisd.org%2Fnews
%2Farctic-council-to-produce-harmonized-map-covering-region%2F>. Fred).

The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), the Arctic Council's
biodiversity working group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
to guide national mapping organizations in the Arctic in producing a harmonized map
18 June:

covering the entire Arctic region, with data on, inter alia, climate and biodiversity. The aim of the Arctic
Spatial Data Infrastructure (Arctic SDI) is to help harmonize, combine and integrate diverse data sets.A

wide range of data with a spatial component has been generated in the
Arctic. However, the management of such data has mainly been national or
issue-specific and, thus, many of the existing datasets are distributed among
many organizations. Thus, the Arctic SDI will also contribute to improved
sharing and analysis across the Arctic , and will be critical in helping to
understand the impacts of climate change on nature, biodiversity
management, and the adaptability and sustainable use of all living resources
in the Arctic. Spatial data can be used in the Arctic as a tool for integrated
planning. Arctic SDI users include: the Arctic Council Working Groups;
scientific groups engaged in Arctic research; governmental authorities
involved in decision regarding the Arctic; and the broader public, including the
private sector, NGOs and media. The national mapping organizations participating in the project are from
the US, Canada, the Russian Federation, Denmark and the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Finland, Iceland,
Norway and Sweden. CCAF consists of national representatives assigned by each of the eight Arctic
Council Member States, representatives of Indigenous Peoples' organizations that are Permanent
Participants to the Council, and Arctic Council observer countries and organizations.

Arctic Council guidelines solve for oil environmental

damage
Arctic Council 9 (The Arctic Council Was Established In 1996 And Succeeded The Arctic
Environmental Protection Strategy., It Is A High-Level Intergovernmental Forum That Provides A Mechanism
To Address The Common Concerns, And Challenges Faced By The Arctic Governments And The Indigenous
Peoples Of The Arctic., and The Members Of The Arctic Council Are Canada, Denmark (Including The Faroe
Islands And Greenland),. ARCTIC COUNCIL (n.d.): n. pag. Www.govmin.gl. 29 Apr. 2009. Web. 24 July 2014.
<http://www.govmin.gl/images/stories/petroleum/Arctic_Offshore_Oil_and_Gas_Guidelines_2009.pdf>. Its
the Arctic Council. Fred).
Clean-up Assessment Technique (SCAT) Manual (2004), the Arctic Guide for Emergency Prevention,
Preparedness and Response (2008), the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (2004), the assessment, Oil and
Gas Activities in the ArcticEffects and Potential Effects (OGA, 2009). 1.2 Goals Purpose of the
Guidelines These

Guidelines are intended to be of use to the Arctic nations for

offshore oil and gas activities during planning, exploration, development,
production and decommissioning Recommendations on the transportation of oil and gas are found in
the OGA, 2008. The Guidelines should be used to help secure common policy and practices. The target

the Guidelines is thus primarily the authorities, but the Guidelines

may also be of help to the industry when planning for oil and gas activities
and to the public in understanding environmental concerns and practices of
Arctic offshore oil and gas activities. While recognizing the non- binding nature of these
group for

Guidelines, they are intended to encourage the highest standards currently available. They are not
intended to prevent States from setting equivalent or stricter standards, where appropriate. Policy
development should take into account the domestic situation with respect to political, economic, legal, and
administrative conditions. Consideration should be given to macro- economic effects, regional effects, and

potential environmental impacts. Such consideration should result in a staged opening plan, and ensure
protection of areas of special environmental concern. While these guidelines do not address socioeconomic aspects in any detail, nor do they set standards for assessment of potential socio-economic

these are nonetheless important to consider

and integrate into the planning and conduct of exploration and development.
The Guidelines are intended to define a set of recommended practices and outline
strategic actions for consideration by those responsible for regulation of
offshore oil and gas activities (including transportation and related onshore activities) in the
effects of offshore oil and gas activities,

Arctic (see Figure 1 and Annex A). It is hoped that regulators will identify the key aspects related to
protection of human health and safety and protection of the environment for the management of offshore
activities, while at the same time remaining sufficiently flexible in the application of these management
regimes to permit alternative regulatory approaches. It should be recognized that the eight Arctic nations
have different systems with different emphases on the division of responsibility between the operator and
the regulator. The goal is to assist regulators in developing standards, which are applied and enforced
consistently for all offshore Arctic oil and gas operators. Sensible regulation will vary to some degree based

it is expected that, based on the outcome of

environmental impact assessment procedures, regulators will establish
policies such that offshore oil and gas activities are conducted so as to
provide for human health and safety and protection of the environment.
upon local circumstances. Thus,

Arctic Council is uniquely key to solve the dispute in the

Arctic
Stein and Axworthy 11 (Stein and Axworthy, Janice and Thomas. "The Arctic Council Is
the Best Way for Canada to Resolve Its Territorial Disputes." The Globe and Mail. N.p., 25 Jan. 2011. Web.
24 July 2014. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/the-arctic-council-is-the-best-way-forcanada-to-resolve-its-territorial-disputes/article574575/>. Janice Gross Stein is director of the Munk School
of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto and Thomas S. Axworthy is president and CEO of the Walter &
Duncan Gordon Foundation and a senior distinguished fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs. Fred).
For example, the Canada-Russia dispute over the Lomonosov Ridge will take 10 to 20 years if left to the UN

What is needed is an Arctic-specific

institution where these issues can be resolved . Luckily, one exists. The Arctic
Council, comprised of the eight Nordic countries in the region, is an effective, high-level
venue for discussing substantial concerns, such as the environment and
native rights. However, when it was created in 1996 after a long diplomatic campaign by Canada,
Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

peace and security issues were left out of its mandate at American insistence. But 2011 is not 1996 and,

as world interest on the Arctic swells, peace and security need to be on the
agenda to ensure the Arctic Council remains relevant . The survey clearly
demonstrates interest in peace and security in the Arctic. On the issue of an Arctic nuclear-weapons free
zone (such as Antarctica), six of the nine constituencies surveyed were very supportive of this idea (82 per
cent in Norway, 78 per cent of Southern Canada, 77 per cent of Finland, 76 per cent of Northern Canada,
75 per cent of Iceland, and 74 per cent of Denmark). Not surprisingly, American and Russian respondents
were the least enthusiastic, with 56 per cent and 47 per cent supporting a nuclear-free Arctic,
respectively. The

Arctic Council would be a fitting venue to discuss peace and

security, not only because it includes the world's two largest nuclear
superpowers, but also because it includes as Permanent Participants the
indigenous peoples who call this territory their homeland. Even in Russia, there is an
appetite for discussing these issues at the council, with 81 per cent of Russians agreeing that military
security should be discussed and 85 per cent agreeing that the Arctic Council should cover peace-building
issues. Upon becoming chair of the Arctic Council in 2013, Canada will have a rare opportunity to put
peace and security back on the agenda.

Arctic Council can get cooperation

Young 2K Oran R. Young, Institute of Arctic Studies, Dartmouth College
August 2000

The Structure of Arctic Cooperation: Solving Problems/Seizing Opportunities*

http://www.arcticparl.org/files/static/conf4_sac.pdf
The Arctic Council has an opportunity to move to the cutting edge in
devising cooperative arrangements well-suited to the increasingly
complex international/transnational landscape of the 21st century.
But it cannot capitalize on this opportunity unless those steeped in traditional
diplomatic practices exhibit the self-confidence needed to experiment with
innovative procedures designed to open up the council to new players and to
legitimize its claim to function as the voice of the Arctic.

Environmental Justice K
Note, you have to either insert the exploration or development link
dont read just Bryant and Rodriguez alone

Justice must be our overriding imperative-All communities are

interconnected, beyond just constructed boundaries. Damage
in one sows seeds of destruction in another. In return, we reap
wars, environmental destruction, and inevitable extinction.
Intellectual and political expediency is flypaper to progress.
Making energy justice our intellectual strategy is key to
incorporating these communities into decision making while
laying the foundation for a sustainable politics
Bryant 95
(Bunyan Bryant, Professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, and an adjunct professor in the
Center for Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Michigan, 1995, Environmental Justice: Issues,
Policies, and Solutions, p. 209-212)
Although the post-World War II economy was designed when environmental consideration was not a problem, today this
is no longer the case; we must be concerned enough about environmental protection to make it a part of our economic
design. Today, temporal and spatial relations of pollution have drastically changed within the last 100 years or so. A
hundred years ago we polluted a small spatial area and it took the earth a short time to heal itself. Today we pollute
large areas of the earth as evidenced by the international problems of acid rain, the depletion of the ozone layer,
global warming, nuclear meltdowns, and the difficulties in the safe storage of spent fuels from nuclear power plants.

we have embarked upon an era of pollution so toxic and

persistent that it will take the earth in some areas thousands of
years to heal itself. To curtail environmental pollutants, we must build new institutions to prevent
Perhaps

widespread destruction from pollutants that know no geopolitical boundaries. We need to do this because pollutants are
not respectful of international boundaries; it does little good if one country practices sound environmental protection

Countries of the world are intricately linked

together in ways not clear 50 years ago; they find themselves victims of
environmental destruction even though the causes of that
destruction originated in another part of the world. Acid rain, global
warming, depletion of the ozone layer, nuclear accidents like the one at Chernobyl, make
all countries vulnerable to environmental destruction. The cooperative
while its neighbors fail to do so.

relations forged after World War II are now obsolete. New cooperative relations need to be agreed upon cooperative

pollution prevention and species preservation are

linked to economic development and survival of planet earth. Economic

relations that show that

inseparably

development is linked to pollution prevention even though the market fails to include the true cost of pollution in its
pricing of products and services; it fails to place a value on the destruction of plant and animal species. To date, most
industrialized nations, the high polluters, have had an incentive to pollute because they did not incur the cost of
producing goods and services in a nonpolluting manner. The world will have to pay for the true cost of production and
to practice prudent stewardship of our natural resources if we are to sustain ourselves on this planet. We cannot

expect Third World countries to participate in debt-for-nature swaps as a means for saving the rainforest
or as a means for the reduction of greenhouse gases, while a considerable amount of such gases come
from industrial nations and from fossil fuel consumption . Like disease, population growth is politically, economically, and
structurally determined. Due to inadequate income maintenance programs and social security, families in developing countries are more
apt to have large families not only to ensure the survival of children within the first five years, but to work the fields and care for the elderly.
As development increases, so do education, health, and birth control. In his chapter, Buttel states that ecological development and
substantial debt forgiveness would be more significant in alleviating Third World environmental degradation (or population problems) than
ratification of any UNCED biodiversity or forest conventions. Because population control programs fail to address the structural
characteristics of poverty, such programs for developing countries have been for the most part dismal failures. Growth and development
along ecological lines have a better chance of controlling population growth in developing countries than the best population control
programs to date. Although population control is important, we often focus a considerable amount of our attention on population problems
of developing countries. Yet there are more people per square mile in Western Europe than in most developing countries. During his/her
lifetime an American child causes 35 times the environmental damage of an Indian child and 280 times that of a Haitian child (Boggs, 1993:
1). The addiction to consumerism of highly industrialized countries has to be seen as a major culprit, and thus must be balanced against

Worldwide environmental protection is

only one part of the complex problems we face today. We cannot
the benefits of population control in Third World countries.

ignore world poverty; it is intricately linked to environmental

protection. If this is the case, then how do we deal with world poverty? How do we bring about lasting peace in
the world? Clearly we can no longer afford a South Africa as it was once organized, or ethnic cleansing by Serbian
nationalists. These types of conflicts bankrupt us morally and destroy our connectedness with one another as a world
community. Yet, we may be headed on a course where the politically induced famine, poverty, and chaos of Somalia
today will become commonplace and world peace more difficult, particularly if the European Common Market, Japan,
and the United States trade primarily among themselves, leaving Third World countries to fend for themselves.

Growing poverty will lead only to more world disequilibrium to

wars and famine as countries become more aggressive and cross
international borders for resources to ward off widespread hunger and
rampant unemployment. To tackle these problems requires a quantum leap in global cooperation and
commitment of the highest magnitude; it requires development of an international tax, levied through
the United nations or some other international body, so that the world community can become more involved in helping
to deal with issues of environmental protection, poverty, and peace. Since the market system has been bold and

public institutions. They must, indeed, be

respond to the rapid changes that reverberate throughout the
world. If they fail to change, then we will surely meet the fate of
the dinosaur. The Soviet Union gave up a system that was unworkable in exchange for another one. Although
flexible enough to meet changing conditions, so too must
able to

it has not been easy, individual countries of the former Soviet Union have the potential of reemerging looking very
different and stronger. Or they could emerge looking very different and weaker. They could become societies that are
both socially and environmentally destructive or they can become societies where people have decent jobs, places to
live, educational opportunities for all citizens, and sustainable social structures that are safe and nurturing. Although
North Americans are experiencing economic and social discomforts, we too will have to change, or we may find
ourselves engulfed by political and economic forces beyond our control. In 1994, the out-sweeping of Democrats from
national offices may be symptomatic of deeper and more fundamental problems. If the mean-spirited behavior that

characterized the 1994 election is carried over into the governance of the country, this may only fan the
flames of discontent. We may be embarking upon a long struggle over ideology, culture, and the very
heart and soul of the country. But despite all the political turmoil, we must take risks and try out new
ideas ideas never dreamed of before and ideas we thought were impossible to implement. To
implement these ideas we must overcome institutional inertia in order to enhance intentional change.

We need to give up

tradition and

business as usual. To view the future as a challenge

we must be willing to take political

and as an opportunity to make the world a better place,

and economic risks.

The question is not growth, but what kind of growth, and where it will take place.
For example, we can maintain current levels of productivity or become even more productive if we farm organically.
Because of ideological conflicts, it is hard for us to view the Cuban experience with an unjaundiced eye; but we ask you
to place political differences aside and pay attention to the lyrics of organic farming and not to the music of
Communism. In other words, we must get beyond political differences and ideological conflicts; we must find success
stories of healing the planet no matter where they exist be they in Communist or non-Communist countries,
developed or underdeveloped countries. We must ascertain what lessons can be learned from them, and examine how

Continued
use of certain technologies and chemicals that are incompatible with the
ecosystem will take us down the road of no return. We are already
witnessing the catastrophic destruction of our environment and
disproportionate impacts of environmental insults on communities of color and
low-income groups. If such destruction continues, it will undoubtedly deal harmful blows to our social,
economic, and political institutions. As a nation, we find ourselves in a house
divided, where the cleavages between the races are in fact getting
worse. We find ourselves in a house divided where the gap between the rich and the poor has increased. We find
they would benefit the world community. In most instances, we will have to chart a new course.

ourselves in a house divided where the gap between the young and the old has widened. During the 1980s, there were
few visions of healing the country. In the 1990s, despite the catastrophic economic and environmental results of the
1980s, and despite the conservative takeover of both houses of Congress, we must look for glimmers of hope. We must
stand by what we think is right and defend our position with passion. And at times we need to slow down and reflect
and do a lot of soul searching in order to redirect ourselves, if need be. We must chart out a new course of defining who
we are as a people, by redefining our relationship with government, with nature, with one another, and where we want

we
are a nation of different ethnic groups and races, and of multiple
interest groups, and if we cannot live in peace and in harmony with
ourselves and with nature it bodes ominously for future world
relations. Because economic institutions are based upon the
growth paradigm of extracting and processing natural resources,
we will surely perish if we use them to foul the global nest. But it
to be as a nation. We need to find a way of expressing this definition of ourselves to one another. Undeniably

does not have to be this way.

Although sound environmental policies can be compatible with

good business practices and quality of life, we may have to jettison the moral argument of environmental protection in

the survival of business

enterprises is intricately tied to good stewardship of natural
resources and environmental protection. Too often we forget that
short-sightedness can propel us down a narrow path, where we are unable to
favor of the self-interest argument, thereby demonstrating that

see the long-term effects of our actions. The ideas and policies discussed in this book are ways of getting ourselves
back on track. The ideas presented here will hopefully provide substantive material for discourse. These policies are not
carved in stone, nor are they meant to be for every city, suburb, or rural area. Municipalities or rural areas should have

Yet we need to extend our concern

about local sustainability beyond geopolitical boundaries, because
flexibility in dealing with their site-specific problems.

dumping in Third World countries or in the atmosphere today will surely haunt the world tomorrow. Ideas presented

we need to make some drastic changes

in our lifestyles and institutions in order to foster environmental
justice. Many of the policy ideas mentioned in this book have been around for some time, but they have not been
implemented. The struggle for environmental justice emerging from the
people of color and low-income communities may provide the
necessary political impulse to make these policies a reality.
Environmental justice provides opportunities for those most
affected by environmental degradation and poverty to make
policies to save not only themselves from differential impact of
environmental hazards, but to save those responsible for the lions
share of the planets destruction. This struggle emerging from the environmental experience
here may irritate some and dismay others, but

of oppressed people brings forth a new consciousness a new consciousness shaped by immediate demands for
certainty and solution. It is a struggle to make a true connection between humanity and nature .

This
struggle to resolve environmental problems may force the nation to alter its
priorities; it may force the nation to address issues of
environmental justice and, by doing so, it may ultimately result in a
cleaner and healthier environment for all of us. Although we may never eliminate all
toxic materials from the production cycle, we should at least have that as a goal.

The alternative is a radical towards justice in our

orientation to oceans:
Our role as academics is to prioritize questions of
environmental justice in the debate space. Not only is this key
to solve, but also to understand the foundations that create
the need for new energy and environmental policies. Our
method lays the groundwork for political action anemic to
injustice. Its time to bring the movement to the classroom
Rodriguez 6
Ph.D., Social Science Prof @ The University of Puerto Rico
(Jose, RE-VALUING NATURE:ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE PEDAGOGY,ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ECOCRITiCISM
ANDTHE TEXTUAL ECONOMIES OF NATURE, 2006, )
For various educators, the act of teaching environmental justiceshould not stray the field from its roots

educators advocate a closer

relationship between the environmental justice movement and the
academy, especiallysince the teaching of environmental justice, as Mighty noted by Robert
Figueroa, brings the teacher to a critical! position in the teachingprocess, a spot from which the
teacher must place the classroom and its teaching within the
and status as a social movement.^ Indeed,

context of the environmental justice movementand the

environmental inequalities that characterizes our world
today(311) .^ For environmental justice educators the classroom is a "space
where citizens can generate and discuss their visions for
transforming our social and political worlds in ways that ameliorate
environmental injustices" (Figueroa 311).Within a politicized classroom, environmental! justice
teachersaim at what Paulo Freire calls conscientization, by which he means theprocess whereby

learners, not as mere receivers, but as meaningful and knowing subjects,

accomplish a deepening awareness both of the social and cultural!
reality that shapes their lives and of their ability to change that
reality (27).** It means achieving understanding of their existence
in and with the world. For students of environmental!justice It means
achieving a better and deeper understanding of the reality of
environmental! inequalities and of their ability to ameliorate these
inequalities.This same process of eco-justice conscientization underlies,for example, Figueroa's
transformative teaching and his concept of "moral imagination" (325-326). Figueroa's goal in
teaching environmental justice is to stretch his students' moral imagination, their
cognitive ability to apprehend the moral experience, feelings, and
judgment of others, to recognize environmental inequalities and
to envision social and political changes to overcome these
inequalities.He describes his radical teaching thus:Radical pedagogy may be understood as
teaching with attitudes andapproaches that politicize the classroom and the curriculum. By

identifying the classroom as a place of reproducing institutional

processesin a political economy, which in turn generates political
actors, we canenliven the student's political imagination. The
academic's pursuit ofenvironmental justice carries political
baggage and obligation thatmany subjects lack. The study of a contemporary
social movementlends itself to the use of pedagogy as a form of
activism. The socialactivism is a consciousness raising that utilizes
the moral and political imagination of the student to seriously
consider the options for transforming current social conditions.
Students feel compelled toask, "What can we do?" and "What is our responsibility?" By askingthese

the classroom is transformed into a place where citizens

can think these matters through without losing sight that the
matters are upon us. (326)Politicizing the classroom in order to aid his students achieve
questions,

adeeper awareness and understanding of the actuality of environmental inequalities and of their ability
to defeat these inequalitiesalso inspires Steve Chase's "constructivist pedagogy" (355-357).Two books.
The Human Rights Education Handbook edited by NancyFlowers and Jacqueline G. Brooks and Martin G.
Brooks' In Searchof Understanding inspire Chase's teaching. Based on the former.Chase's teaching
stresses the concrete experience of his students,active learning activities, student participation,
horizontal communication, critical thinking, the expression of feelings, cooperationamong students, and

environmental
justice education is not just about liberatory knowledge but also
about liberatory practicesthus, training students as activists.
the integration of knowledge, action and feelings (356). Furthermore, Chase's

Finally, the constructivistdimension of Chase's teaching, based on In Search of Understanding,inquires

about his students' understanding of concepts before sharing his own understanding of these concepts;
encourages students'inquiry by asking thoughtful, open-ended questions; and engagesstudents in
experiences that might engender contradictions to theirinitial positions about a particular issue (360361).Jia-Yi Cheng Levine also implements this idea of conscientizationin her classroom, her goal being
the production of "critical

consciousness," which in her view is essential to help

students "be responsible and responsive world citizens" (371). That is,
assisting her students95attain a deeper consciousness and knowledge of environmental! inequalities
and of their ability to develop alternatives to the structuresof environmental! inequalities is what
motivates Jia-YI Cheng Levine'seducational efforts to form political subjects capable of
opposingenvironmental injustices and Inequalities. In her essay "TeachingLiterature of Environmental!

Justice in an Advanced Gender Studies Course," Jia-Yi Cheng Levine refers to a particular course
aboutwomen and the environment in which she introduced the !literature ofthe environmental justice
movement to her students, exposing themto various political, social and ecological issues. As she
explains:"By introducing literature of environmental justice to our students, we

help form
political subjects who would seek to dismantle racism,sexism,
classism, and unbridled capitalism, which wreak havoc on our
planet and our people" (378). Her teaching is certainly aimed atconscientization, as she
makes dear:Teaching is more than transmitting knowledge or modes of
thinking; it helps form political subjects who will determine the
future of this planetwe call home. My goal for teaching literature of environmental
justicewas to foster a literacy of the environment in my students' everydaylives, to call their
attention lo the power structures of society and the political
struggles of the impoverished, as well as to encourage them to
examine configurations of knowledge and the dispensation of
power. By addressing the interrelated issues of race, gender, class,and the environment, I wanted
to bring environmental and socialjustice education into the class. (368)Jia-Yi Cheng Levine's

teaching then seeks to empower students as critical and

conscientious political subjects while asking them tostudy,
question and confront the history, and ideological!
frameworksthat have contributed both to the environmental
degradation we experience nowadays and to the production of environmental
inequalities.In her particular gender studies course, literature greatly facilitatedthe process of
conscientization, thus assigning a significant role toliterature as a liberatory pedagogical tool for
environmental justiceeducators. Although perhaps more suitable for literature courses,the study of
literature helps students in any course reach a reflective awareness and a thoughtful understanding of
the material andideological character of environmental inequalities and of their abilityto transform
unequal! conditions. The usefulness and effectivenessof literature as a pedagogical tool, t insist, is not !
limited to !literaturecourses. Rather, !literature, and its analysis, is a practical, helpful andconstructive
toot in a wide variety of courses, especially if we use theword "literature" vaguely to include not just
poetry, fictional proseand nature writing but also non-fictional writing and any other kindsof texts in
which issues of environmental justice appear, or that might provide us with the opportunity to address
these issues in the classroom.^ Enabling students to examine how texts produce meaningand value
provides them with a larger picture of political, social andcultural processes that shape daily life and
various social struggles,including environmental justice struggles Integrating Environmental Justice Eco
criticism to theCiassroomThe fundamental question behind environmental justice educators integrating
texts containing environmental justice issues andits analysis into their classrooms is this: How can
texts and textual analysis further our efforts as teachers to help our students

deeper awareness and understanding

achieve a

of the reality of environmental inequities

and of their ability to ameliorate these inequalities? Hence,these teachers presuppose, as Jia-Yi Cheng
Levine's teaching exemplifies, that the introduction of texts, including environmental justiceliterature
and its study and criticism, into the classroom is useful inhelping our students grow to be political
subjects who would seek toquestion and challenge environmental inequalities while
proposingalternatives that promote justice, equality and democracy.

2NC Extensions

Links
Northern Polar expeditions reinforce colonialism and
masculine ideologies while manipulating natives to follow
orders through coercion
Bloom 93, Lisa. Gender on Ice: American Ideologies of Polar Expeditions
pg. 3 Accessed 7-16-14.
Expeditions to the North Pole, far from being innocent of the tensions of
the empire, represented a peculiar stage of colonialism specific to polar
discourses that integrated the desire for empire with a presumably
disinterested moral and scientific imagination. Dependent upon foot
travel and hard work of Eskimos, as the Inuit people were called, North
Polar expeditions were icons of the whole enterprise of colonialism. The
complexity of the relation between master and servant in the pursuit of
science, however, was consistently written out of the script. Polar explorers
with their established network of publications and clubs identified polar
exploration as an intrinsically pure field of knowledge, effecting the
political dealings with entire Eskimo villages, and the gender and
race relations that informed the writing of their texts. () Ideologies of
gender were central to polar discovery and exploration narratives are a rich
source for the analysis of stereotypes of white masculinity during this era. In
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, polar exploration
narratives played a prominent part in defining the social construction
of masculinity and legitimized the exclision of women from many public
domains of discourse. As all-male activities, the explorations
symbolically enacted the mens own battle to become men. The
difficulty of life in desolate and freezing regions provided the ideal mythic site
where men could show themselves as heroes capable of superhuman feats.

Industrial development is harmful to the native

populations
Hugh Brody (1977). Industrial impact in the Canadian north. Polar Record, 18, pp 333-339.
doi:10.1017/S0032247400000589. http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FPOL
%2FPOL18_115%2FS0032247400000589a.pdf&code=154bc58c7983f554b38b329bcd41b762

The vastness, coldness, and low biological productivity of the north have given rise to
a very remarkable paradox. On the one hand, human population has always been
small and widely scattered. The largest single aboriginal Arctic community

was probably no more than 2 000 strong, and entire culture areas in
the Canadian north comprised population clusters of between 10 and
50 persons. The qualities of the north have meant that for a long time it has been
beyond the reach of agricultural interest or industrial possibility. On the other hand,
these same fundamental qualities mean that once the industrial potential of

the north is apparent, it can only be tapped economically by the

application of huge amounts of capital and large-scale operations .
Therefore, when industry does come to the north, we find the smallest,
most isolated societies alongside some of the most costly and

technically complex development projects in the world . Hence the

paradox: the smallest alongside the largest, the most traditional alongside the most
modern, and the most remote becoming involved with national or even international
economic interests. The interaction between industrial development and small,
isolated communities has been the subject of social scientific concern since the
1920's. There is a vast literature dealing with problems of culture contact and
colonialism in all parts of the world. Yet the pattern in the Arctic does not fit easily
into the best documented models. The reason for this is simple enough: industrial
advance in the north does not represent a southern wish to make use of either native
peoples or of vast new territories. It includes neither of the main ingredients of
classic colonialismthe wish to profit by reserves of labour or by increased land.
Instead, Arctic 'colonialism' is motivated by what lies under the

ground, in comparatively restricted areas, and shows a preference

for imported labour, which is often housed and supported on industrial sites.
This means that the impact of industrial development on small northern communities
does not necessarily have a great deal to do with the sudden penetration of a native
community by overwhelming numbers of outsiders, nor does it mean the direct
expropriation of land upon which native peoples have long depended. But there are
similarities in the pattern, nonetheless. For example, sociologists refer to an idealtype of small community, which has a number of features that are of special
relevance and importance. There are the economic factors: the small communities
are poorat least relatively soand are economically dependent on the larger
society for some essential goods. Local resources are not able, or are no longer able,
to support the population's demand for goods (even though it is theoretically possible
for them to supply basic foodstuffs). Then there are the social factors: the small
community is highly integrated, and local foodstuffs are shared in such a way as to
maximize their use and minimize local inequalities. Family life is well regulated, and
each generation grows into its expected roles without too much conflict. And, finally,
there are the political factors: the small community is at least indirectly under the
aegis of another, far more powerful social order, of which it is politically a part. These
characteristics are typical of remote societies where an aboriginal culture is of not too
distant historical importance. They do, therefore, apply to the settlements and camps
of the Canadian north, and it is worth keeping this fact firmly in mind

when looking at the effect of industrial development on such

communities. It is not just smallness that is of relevance, but also
the degree of remoteness, political subordination, economic
dependence, and solidarity of community and family life. It is also
important to be as clear as possible about the kind of industry that is at issue. It is
high wage, capital intensive, and dependent upon highly rationalized economies of
scale. It is a frontier mode of economy, and accordingly has distinct ideological
components, including individualism and encouragement to mobility of labour . As

far as native peoples are concerned, it involves the view that it will
provide things that native societies badly needmore money,
opportunities for participation in the mainstream of Canadian life ,
and what is broadly thought of as 'progress'. Thus industry is often seen,
and indeed is often justified, as a solution to the problems of small
native communities. In this discussion, then, I shall look at some of the relations
between these characteristics of northern industrial advance and the characteristics
of small northern communities already discussed. I shall cover three broad areas of
inquirythe economic, the social, and the politicalwith specific emphasis on the
questions of money and sharing, as well as on problems of individualism, identity and
mobility, and the way in which industrial development tends to be totally
intrusive. Throughout I shall be supposing a simple model of industrial

development in which a large, elaborate and costly programme for a mine or an oiland-gas site is either geographically or economically close to a small native
community.

Industrialization of the north is a form of cultural

imperialism
Hugh Brody (1977). Industrial impact in the Canadian north. Polar Record, 18, pp 333-339.
doi:10.1017/S0032247400000589. http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FPOL
%2FPOL18_115%2FS0032247400000589a.pdf&code=154bc58c7983f554b38b329bcd41b762
It is often said that northern natives are poor, and that the obvious solution to the
problem of poverty lies in providing more opportunities to earn higher wages. In fact,
native income is not easy to calculate. Income distribution figures for the Mackenzie
delta region, published in 1972 and cited by Professor Charles Hobart in his evidence
to the Berger Inquiry, give annual per capita earnings for Dene as $839.64, for Inuit
as $666.89, and Metis as $1 146.52. These figures are compared with the $3 554.61
per capita annual income for southerners. But the figures are puzzling. Other sources
estimate that the annual income equivalent for country foods is in the region of $4
000 per family, which yields by itself a higher per capita figure than the total
suggested by the 1972 study. Peter Usher's evidence to the Inquiry indicates that the
value of country foods in the Mackenzie delta is even higher and could, in fact, come
close to $8 000 per family per annum. A government-sponsored study of Indians
living in the Great Bear Lake area shows that in the years 1970-75 nearly 60 per cent
of households depended on country foods and sales of fur, and that the dollar value
of these gave a real income of at least $1 500 per capita per annum. Even that study
quotes an unrealistically low price for meat. If the figures are adjusted using more
plausible price equivalents, the per capita income is increased by about 45 per cent
to $2 175, which represents a household income of between $4 350 and $10 000 per
annum. Inuit and Dene peoples are not attached to their lands by sentiment alone.
These figures should not be interpreted as demonstrating that the inhabitants of
small northern communities are wealthy, or that they lead economically secure lives.

They do, however, raise some interesting questions about the impact
of industrial development. Remembering that industry is capable of
offering jobs at high wages and remembering, also, that members of
the affected community are short of the money they need to buy
goods and services that they have come to regard as essential, one
consequence of industrial development is likely to be a reduction of
earnings or earning-equivalents from land-based and traditional
activities. The amount involved could be as much as $5 000 per family per annum.
Of course, industrial employment does not wipe out, at a stroke, all production of
country foods; it does not even put an end to trapping and earnings from sales of
furs. Indeed, because wage earners can afford to improve the technology they apply
to the harvesting of renewable resources, high wages can actually be beneficial to
traditional economic activity. But in the longer run, all the evidence

suggests that whatever employment opportunities are created,

whatever the levels of earning in the industrial sector, the use of
land and production of country foods eventually declines. Frobisher
Bay, the Hay River-Pine Point area, and Inuvik all exemplify this trend. In Frobisher
Bay, for instance, there is now a persistent shortage of country
foods, including seal meat and whale skin, whereas 15 years ago the
area was providing enough meat and fish for the subsistence of a

community numbering 65 per cent of the present Frobisher Inuit

population. Industrial employment also has an impact on the
distribution of income within a small community. Like so many village
dwellers who have lived, in the not too distant past, in relative economic isolation,
Inuit and Dene peoples are proud of the ways in which they share the produce of the
land. The activity of hunting may be comparatively individualistic, but its produce
tends to be communalat least in so far as those in want are able to approach
successful hunters and ask for food. Also, the basic means of productionlandis
regarded as communal. Money is not so readily shared. Wage earners

tend to regard it as their own private property, and to spend it on

their immediate families' personal needs. Consumer durable goods
cannot easily be divided among neighbours. The shift towards a
money economy thus creates a possibility for poverty that previously
did not exist: those in want are more likely to stay in want, and
substantial inequalities introduce themselves into native
communities. It is possible, in an unequal society where the basis of wealth is not
shared, for average per capita income to go up, while the number of
households experiencing poverty is also increasing.

In current politics the indigenous peoples are more and

more ignored. Leaving them silent in the international
community
Nuttall 98, Mark. Protecting the Arctic: Indigenous Peoples and Cultural
Survival. Accessed 7-16-14.
In recent years concern over global warming, atmospheric pollution,
ozone depletion, overfishing and uncontrolled resource extraction
has focused international attention on the Arctic as a critical zone for
global environmental change. The global quest for natural resources, the
expansion of capitalist markets and the influence of transnational practices
on the periphery has resulted in an internationalization of the circumpolar
north. The anthropogenic causes and consequences of environmental
change and degradation demonstrates how regional environmental
change in the Arctic cannot be viewed in isolation, but must be seen in
relation to global change and global processes. Development and the threat
of irreversible environmental damage has precipitated intense debate about
the correct use of natural resources and proper ways forward for Arctic
environmental protection. Indigenous peoples organizations,
environmentalists and, more recently, national governments, have stressed
the need to implement appropriate resource management policies
and environmental protection strategies. Yet science based resource
management systems designed to safeguard wildlife and the Arctic
environment have, for the most part, ignored indigenous
perspectives.

Arctic Alternative
The only way to make the natives feel safe in their home
from us is too consult them first.
Hugh Brody (1977). Industrial impact in the Canadian north. Polar Record, 18, pp 333-339.
doi:10.1017/S0032247400000589. http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FPOL
%2FPOL18_115%2FS0032247400000589a.pdf&code=154bc58c7983f554b38b329bcd41b762

The problem of consultation is of particular importance. There is an Eskimo

word that characterizes the feeling that southerners inspire in Inuit.
That word (or root) is ilira, and it is not easy to translate. It is a kind of fear, a
blend of awe and intimidation. It is the feeling a strong and effective father
inspires in his children; it is the feeling you have about a person whose
be- haviour you can neither control nor predict, but who is perhaps
going to be dangerous; it is the feeling you have when you are in a
room full of important strangers whose language you cannot
understand; and it is the feeling inspired by the trader, the
missionary and the policeman, white strangers who were so
obviously powerful, upon whom Inuit were so acutely dependent and who
told people what to do and believe but were not often disposed to listen to
what Inuit wanted to do and believe. Indeed, Inuit express their surprise and
pleasure when they have dealings with a southerner who does not make
them feel ilira. In the course of two or more decades of dealings with
southerners, Inuit came to have expectations and attitudes strongly
influenced by the ilira they felt. They did not expect to be able to state
their own opinions and criticisms of what southerners were doing;
they tended to accept the decisions of traders and missionaries, and
to avoid all possible confrontation. There took place what might be
called political retreatism, as well as the careful preservation of a cheerful
and obedient countenance. Native people came to present themselves as
conciliatory and accepting. This meant that they were inclined to smile
and look cheerful whenever they had dealings with southerners; it
also meant that they did what they were asked to do, even when it
was, in reality, something they thought wrong or foolish; and, in the
end, it meant that they subordinated themselves to the changing
whims of individuals no less than to shifts in prices or policies by
which their lives were profoundly affected. Retreatism of this kind is
described by many Inuit who can recall the first introduction of schools. In
some areas this was iin the late 1950's, and in most areas followed directly
on the trade and mission period, and represented one of the first major
governmental initiatives in the north. In a series of 43 discussions I had on
this subject with parents who were asked to give permission for their children
to go to a federal school in a settlement, but who were living at the time in
camp away from the settlement, 32 said they wanted to say 'no' to the
officials by whom they were approached. All but 3, however, said 'y es> > an
d, in many cases, against their own very strong feelings and quite different
judgement, agreed to leave their children in school or moved to a settlement
to avoid being separated from them. This represents approximately a 70 per
cent acquiescence rate. When describing their reasons for thus acquiescing,
21 of the 29 parents used the word ilira to explain their behaviour, and 14

used the word kappia, which means fear of danger. 18 talked of southerners
as angajuqaat, bosses, and themselves as just not being able to do other
than what they were told. Each person's description of the beginnings of the
education programme involved some more or less explicit reference to their
subordination to and dependence upon southerners. When Inuit talk about
subsequent events, they indicate that these attitudes and their corresponding
retreatism have tended to persist, or, in some cases even to be reinforced.
Inuit have rarely felt able to oppose southerners' wishes. Since
southerners represent their innovations as their wish, they thereby
minimize the possibility of the kind of dialogue that genuine
consultation must entail. What is more, the discussions that do take
place are often bedevilled by misunderstandings : there are serious
language problems, not to mention the vastly different traditions of
dialogue and social exchange that govern the representatives of
industry and the representatives of Inuit or Dene communities. Inuit
are slow to decide, and prefer to wait for the gradual emergence of
community opinion before expressing a definite point of view. They are also
suspicious of mere opinion, and regard an error of judgement as a lie. But
decisions about industry can rarely wait longthe harsh economic realities
are always said to be pounding on the door. From the native point of view,
their representatives seem to be stormed into making decisions, into
giving agreements, and into expressing their wishes and conditions
for the southerners' programmes.

Politics

1NC Links
Arctic drilling and mining is unpopular
sthagen 13 (sthagen, Andreas. "Arctic Oil and Gas: Hype or Reality?" Fletcher Forum of World
Affairs RSS. N.p., 9 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 July 2014.
<http://www.fletcherforum.org/2013/04/09/osthagen/>. Andreas sthagen works for the North Norway
European Office in Brussels while contributing to The Arctic Institute, a D.C. based think tank. He holds a
MSc in International Relations from London School of Economics and has previously worked on Arctic issues
at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) and the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies
in Oslo. Fred).
Internationally, Arctic resource exploration has attracted attention as a symbol of corporate greed and

As more and more attention is paid to the Arctic, striking the

right balance between the conflicting interests in the region becomes of
paramount importance to national politicians intent on reelection. As such,
climate change.

discussions concerning Arctic oil and gas activities often seem to inspire conflict and public outcry, such
that the power of civic engagement, in terms of halting the processes, should not be underestimated . A

third hindrance comes from the friction caused when regional interests collide
with those of the Federal government. The people and local governments of Alaska, for
example, are increasingly interested in mineral and oil extraction to boost local employment levels and tax

Washington, D.C., however, is wary of the politically unpopular issue

Arctic mining or drilling generates amongst environmental organizations. The
deadlock between these two competing interests constitute yet another
hindrance for the rapid petroleum development in the Arctic.
bases.