[Tintin Storm]

Over the past few years, the Arctic has become firmly entrenched in the geopolitical interests of not only the Arctic countries, such as Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Iceland, but also states far from this region - China, Japan, South Korea, and the couple international organizations that had not previously participated in Arctic affairs - NATO and the EU. Having no official status of polar countries, Finland, Sweden, China, Japan, and South Korea believe that the policy of the Arctic states seeking to "share" the Arctic with each other is short-sighted and destabilizing the situation in the region. These countries view the resources of the Arctic as an asset of all mankind, considering that the development of its natural resources should take place within the framework of the widest possible international cooperation, and all those who wish and have the technical and financial capabilities, must have access to the exploitation of the resources of this region. And this even though most of countries "interested in honest cooperation" in the Arctic are members of NATO.
A significant amount of minerals is mined in the Arctic, which is of strategic importance for Russia. Colossal oil and gas reserves of this region are historically and legally owned by Russia, but many other countries insidiously aspire to seize them. The unsettled Arctic maritime borders (both due to the geographical inaccessibility of individual Arctic territories and due to the reluctance of individual negotiating partners to seek consensus) continues to be a serious source of international conflicts in the region and an obstacle to cooperation between the various countries participating in the development of the Arctic, and allows some local players to challenge the Russian ownership of certain deposits. All this urges the Russian Federation to strengthen its work on international legal support for the Russian position on the speedy and fair division of the Arctic space, because Russia started the development of the polar region eight centuries ago, and the Arctic remains an integral part of the Russian geopolitical space today.
The missile systems deployed by NATO and the United States in this region pose a potential threat to Russia's safety, since it is easier to strike a missile attack on most of the Russian territory from there. In case of a permanent presence of the US nuclear submarine fleet and deployment of sea-based missile defense systems, there will be opportunities to intercept ballistic missile launches and to launch a preemptive strike against Russia. Is this not a reason to think about creating security system in the Arctic? And this is not just reason to think about it, but to start full-scale implementation of it in practice to create a powerful shield of air defense forces in the region as soon as possible. In general, the development of military infrastructure and the strengthening of Russia's permanent military presence in the Arctic will not only enhance its defense capability, but will also allow Russian army to retain its competitive advantages.
At the same time, it is important to understand that the main goal of military infrastructure development in the region is not in the subsequent significant increase of Russia's military presence, but in the consistent establishment of a system of measures to control the air, water and land areas. Moreover, the created infrastructure should maximize the solution of the problem of economic development of the Arctic.
Thus, despite the confrontational course of some Arctic states and organizations, aimed at infringing on Russia's interests, Russia does not try to get involved in the arms race. From the point of view of Moscow, such a course is more preferable and productive than the further increase in rivalry in the Arctic.

[One Degree]

All area on earth not suited for permanent human habitation should be international territory. Business ventures in these areas should be bid on and the income distributed to all countries. Deciding the borders of these areas are simplified by accepting my view of the earth being divided by one degree areas.