tensions over physical resources in the environmental sphere

• contested power -> tensions between superpowers


  unstable geopolitical landscape due to the shift in power and emergence of multiple superpowers
• what different ways is global influence contested?


  economic, environmental, and political
• meaning of spheres of influence


  a physical region over which a country believes it has economic, military, cultural, or political rights
• are spheres of influence transboundary?


  no, not just bound to boundaries but can be anywhere over the world
• contested geographies


  resources are contested due to...

  • land border dispute
  • ownership of land
  • the extent of a nations EEZ
• what is a exclusive economic zone?


  an area of the ocean, extending 200 nautical miles (230 miles) beyond a nation's land shelf
• where are tensions arising over acquisition of physical resource?

  Arctic

  between Russia, Alaska (USA), Canada, and Greenland (Denmark)
• why is the Arctic so important to neighboring countries?


  contains undiscovered resources

  30% of worlds gas

  13% of worlds oil
• problems with with sea dividing in the Arctic Circle


  Canada, Russia, and Denmark all have proposed territory that overlaps
• how is Russia staking its claim to the Arctic Circle?


  -increasing its military surrounding the circle: 50 airfields, military bases and exercises

  -a coal mine on Svalbard and whole area shows off Russian power and influence, current and past
• what is Svalbard?


  a country that 45 countries signed a treaty to be allowed to gain economic advantages from country.

  although no military bases are allowed

  is one of the closes islands to the Arctic Circle