The new Arctic Strategy of the USA: international law dimension
In June 2019 the US Department of Defense has published the Arctic Strategy which updates the previous 2016 Arctic Strategy. This article considers the main provisions of the Strategy in terms of international law. The author the presented paper reveals an American view of the main trends in the development of the Arctic region. In particular, the Strategy focuses on climate change, the need for multilateral cooperation, the legal status of transport arteries, as well as the military presence in the Arctic. The research described in the article shows that the United States considers the activities of Russia and China in the Arctic as a threat to national security. In addition, the Strategy calls the relationship between the Arctic states “strategic competition”. The author of the research presented here criticizes the US position regarding the legal regulation of shipping along the Northern Sea Route, and the US view on the Russian approach to determining the external border of the continental shelf in the Arctic. The article emphasizes that the US intention to defend its interests in the Arctic region not so much through international legal mechanisms as through the threat of the use of military force seems to be very reasonable today.