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Meeting Arctic security threats: Do Europe’s new strategies make sense?

Chatham House | 2026-10-23 | europe

Topics: China, Climate, Europe, NATO, Nuclear, Russia, Trade, Ukraine, United States

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English Summary

The Chatham House analysis finds that while the UK and EU have updated their Arctic strategies to address heightened geopolitical tensions and military threats, these plans are insufficient because they fail to fully integrate climate change as a core security threat. The region's instability is driven by the convergence of accelerating climate degradation, resource competition, and increased Russian/Chinese military presence. For these strategies to succeed, policy must pivot beyond pure military readiness to treat climate mitigation as an essential security component, balancing resource extraction with environmental protection and ensuring meaningful participation from indigenous Arctic communities.

中文摘要

查塔姆學會的分析指出,儘管英國和歐盟已更新其北極戰略以應對加劇的地緣政治緊張和軍事威脅,但這些計畫仍不夠充分,因為它們未能將氣候變化作為核心安全威脅進行充分整合。該地區的不穩定性源於氣候惡化加速、資源競爭以及俄羅斯和中國軍事存在增加等多重因素的匯合。若欲使這些戰略取得成功,政策必須超越純粹的軍事準備,將氣候減緩視為不可或缺的安全組成部分,在資源開採與環境保護之間取得平衡,並確保原住民北極社區的有效參與。

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