U.S. Arctic Policy: The Reluctant Arctic Power

By virtue of both its standing as a superpower and its purchase of Alaska in 1867, the United States is an Arctic nation. But throughout much of its history, it seldom recognized this fact. At an individual level, it has produced outstanding polar explorers such as Robert Peary and Richard Byrd, as well as modern-day Arctic scientists such as Robert Corell and Waldo Lyon. Furthermore, the Arctic was central to the United States’ nuclear deterrent posture during the Cold War. But the Arctic has seldom figured prominently in U.S. policy discussions. Thus the United States may be characterized as the