At the next Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting held in Iqaluit, Nunavut (Canada) on 24-25 April 2015, the US will take over chairmanship of the Arctic Council from Canada for the next two years until May 2017. This comes at a time of unprecedented geopolitical volatility and tension – at least since the end of the Cold War – around the globe, which makes many wonder what happened to American resolve and leadership.
Moreover, the Arctic may soon become the venue for geopolitical brinkmanship and a real stress test for the already severely strained US-Russian relationship because it is in the Arctic where Russia and the US are poised to square off over natural resources and other issues.
