An alarming new report is detailing how Russia is increasing its presence in the Arctic region, which experts say threatens America’s national security and economic outlook.

On Monday, The Wall Street Journal published a detailed analysis of how Vladimir Putin’s regime is enlarging its presence in the Arctic region significantly by building military bases, conducting military exercises, and opening new projects to harvest oil, natural gas, and rare-earth minerals.

Economically, Russia has a significant advantage over the U.S. in the region. The Journal reported that “Russia’s Arctic already contributes roughly 10% of its gross domestic product, including 17% of oil sales, 80% of natural gas and one-third of all fishing.” In comparison, “Alaska accounted for only 0.2% of U.S. GDP in 2023.”

But for the U.S., Russia’s military ambitions in the area likely outweigh economic concerns. Over the last decade, Russia has constructed at least 10 new bases in the Arctic region, while the U.S. has built zero over the same time period. The U.S.’s existing military installations in the region make up the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a joint U.S.-Canadian system that was originally established in the ’50s to defend both countries from Soviet missile attacks during the Cold War. But as noted by the Journal, “its surveillance network of satellites, ground-based radar and air force bases has fallen out of date.” Meanwhile, “Russia and China are deploying new missiles that can fly much farther than their predecessors, reaching five times the speed of sound, which would overwhelm America’s existing sensors.”

The Journal also reported that in 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security “said Moscow’s ability to maintain a strong presence in the Arctic Ocean outstrips Washington’s capacity — weakening American security.”

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it became isolated from the rest of the globe, which led to China forging closer ties as it has rendered energy and military aid to Putin’s regime. This has in turn led to an unprecedented show of force by both countries in the Arctic region. In 2023, Russian and Chinese naval ships undertook a joint patrol near Alaska, which was the largest fleet of foreign ships to ever sail near U.S. shores. Then in July of last year, two Russian and two Chinese fighter jets came within 200 miles of the Alaskan coast before being intercepted by U.S. and Canadian fighters. Three months later, the Chinese Coast Guard and the Russian Border Guard commenced another joint patrol, which was “the farthest north that ships from the Chinese Coast Guard had ever been spotted.”

Just last week, multiple Russian warplanes yet again were spotted in the Arctic, which drew a response from U.S. and Canadian aircraft to monitor the situation.

According to Liu Nengye, an associate professor at Singapore Management University, Russia and China have developed “comprehensive” Arctic cooperation. “It’s resources, it’s shipping, it’s scientific research, it’s military drills,” he observed.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has indicated that his administration will be pursuing a significantly stronger strategy in the Arctic region than his predecessor. Last month, he announced his interest in acquiring Greenland and has since reiterated his position, emphasizing that “it’s for the protection of the free world.” Greenland is currently an autonomous territory of Denmark, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has stated publicly that Greenland is “not for sale.” However, both Greenland’s PM Mute Egede and Frederiksen have indicated that they may be willing to work more closely with the U.S. on defense and mining of rare-earth minerals.

In comments to The Washington Stand, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Bob Maginnis, senior fellow for National Security at Family Research Council, said he supports Trump’s pursuit of Greenland as part of a broader strategy to assert a strong American presence in the region to counter Russia and China.

“The U.S. has a number of strategies calling out the importance of the Arctic,” he noted. “Certainly, the 2024 DOD strategy is significant because it recognizes our adversaries — China and Russia — are building up capabilities to wit — military facilities in the region.”

Maginnis continued, “The Chinese have two large icebreakers. That’s odd for a non-Arctic nation until you realize Beijing seeks to use the northern route to ship its wares to Europe. Further, the Chinese have worked with the Russians to employ underwater drones to map the Arctic Ocean’s floor. The only reason a nation would do that is to facilitate navigation but also to exploit natural resources — minerals and energy. Clearly, the eight Arctic nations, which includes the U.S., know full well the region is quite rich. Further, it is noteworthy the Chinese are campaigning to declare the Arctic a ‘global commons,’ which means no single nation has jurisdiction, and it would be available to all nations. Of course, that fits Beijing’s interests.”

Maginnis further observed that “it makes total common sense for Washington to be concerned about the Arctic for both security and commercial reasons. Greenland is part of North America, and it must host facilities that contribute to the defense of the U.S. It’s past time that Denmark, a speck of a country that would be stretched to do anything meaningful with Greenland, re-negotiate with the U.S. the integration of that giant island into a more capable security strategy.”

Maginnis, who spent four years of his military service in Alaska, went on to argue that “too few people understand the riches and dangers associated with Arctic operations.” “However,” he concluded, “the U.S. under Trump is beginning to pay close attention in part because both the Russians and the Chinese are becoming especially active across the region.”