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Alaska Governor Dunleavy warns of "heightened" Russian and Chinese activities in the Arctic
On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, Governor Mike Dunleavy underscores Alaska's strategic significance in US national security, describing it as "the real operational fort for North America." The state's unique geographical location, further west than Hawaii and, at one point, just two and a half miles from Russia, places it on the front lines of potential conflicts with adversaries like Russia, China, and North Korea. Dunleavy admits that Alaska regularly faces military provocations, including Russian bombers that "overfly our state... maybe three times a month" and Chinese warships navigating through the Bering Strait.
The Governor warns that Alaska's proximity to global hotspots like Asia and the Arctic makes it a critical player in any future military conflicts. "If there is conflict [in Asia], Alaska is going to be unfortunately part of that," he says, noting that the state's military bases would likely become key points for deploying US troops and equipment. The governor also highlights the state's role in missile defense, mentioning that Alaska's interceptors are crucial in dealing with "Korean missile threats," emphasizing the state's readiness to respond to growing regional tensions.
Watch full episode: As the Arctic melts, Alaska's importance grows
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don''t miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
Resource-rich Alaska is crucial to the future of energy in America — Gov. Dunleavy
On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy paints a picture of the state as a powerhouse of energy and resources, stressing, "We are an energy and economic giant, and we are the Arctic and Western Pacific Sovereign for the United States of America." Dunleavy highlights its proximity to an abundance of natural wealth—including the world’s largest gold mine and North America's largest graphite mine. "We still have billions of barrels of oil. We have over a hundred trillion cubic feet of gas that we're trying to market," Dunleavy emphasizes, positioning Alaska as crucial to America's energy future.
And, he adds, Alaska’s ability to mine these valuable resources is happening despite, rather than thanks to, the Biden administration and its penchant to view the state as "a large national park.” This, according to Dunleavy, hinders Alaska's ability to fully leverage its resources, stating, "Oftentimes we are not supported in our efforts to develop lands in Alaska that could produce minerals, that could produce more oil and gas, that could harvest our timber."
Despite these obstacles, Dunleavy remains optimistic, predicting that "the next 50 years will belong to Alaska" due to its vast resource base and strategic global position. He envisions Alaska playing a pivotal role in the global energy market, both in fossil fuels and renewables, provided that federal attitudes and policies evolve to support rather than hinder the state's ambition
Watch full episode: As the Arctic melts, Alaska's importance grows
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don''t miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
As the Arctic melts, Alaska's importance grows
Alaska is on the front lines of an increasingly hostile US-Russian relationship. With the Arctic Circle melting and shipping lanes opening, things could get ugly fast.
On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer sits down with Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy. He is clear-eyed about the growing military importance of Alaska as tensions rise in the Arctic, especially with increased Russian and Chinese activity in the region. “Alaska is truly the operational fort for North America,” he tells Bremmer. Dunleavy also calls for more investment in military infrastructure, including icebreaker ships, to secure America's Arctic frontier. “We only have two [icebreakers] in the United States. Because of Alaska's position and what is happening now geopolitically and with a warming Arctic, Alaska should have a minimum of five icebreakers."
Dunleavy also frames Alaska as “an energy and economic giant" poised to lead in America’s energy future. He underscores Alaska’s vast natural resources, from oil and gas to rare earth minerals. “We have 49 of the world's 50 rare earth elements. The largest gold mine on the planet is up there. The list goes on and on.” He also highlights Alaska’s renewable energy potential, including geothermal, wind, and tidal power, framing the state as a key player in the global energy transition.
Dunleavy, a Republican, also criticizes his state’s relationship with the federal government, which he says often treats the state "like a large national park." He argues that Alaska’s resources are critical not just for the state but for the nation, especially as the world shifts towards greener technologies that rely on rare minerals. The governor also emphasizes the need for streamlined federal permitting processes to fully unlock Alaska's potential, both economically and environmentally.
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don''t miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
Ian Explains: Alaska is not just a state, it's a geopolitical outpost
Amid Russia's growing territorial aggression and a fast-warming Arctic, Alaska's physical place in the world has become more geopolitically relevant than ever. Alaska's northern coastline makes the US one of six countries with exclusive economic zones in the Arctic Circle. And while no country owns the North Pole—it isn't even land—it is constantly shifting sea ice, which is going to melt. But as that happens, the Arctic is opening up, and countries are now racing to lay claim to untapped deposits of oil, natural gas, and rare earth minerals, newly accessible shipping routes, and strategic military positions between North America and Eurasia.
Russia is winning by most metrics. The Russian government has more than three dozen polar icebreakers in its fleet, compared to two, not two dozen, two in the United States, giving it a strategic and operational advantage. Russia accounts for nearly half the Arctic population, more than half its coastline, and the Arctic industry. Moscow has spent years building up military outposts in the region as polar ice melts and its northern waters become exposed.
Russia's also increasing cooperation in the region with China, which sees the Arctic as an important part of its strategic economic and environmental interests. China is believed to be exploring a military presence there. NATO countries suspended political-level meetings with Moscow, and all international research projects have been put on hold. Until Arctic states can find a way to work together, rising tensions and a zero-sum game of territorial ambition will give the most remote part of the planet a lot more of our attention.
Watch Ian's interview with Governor Mike Dunleavy on the full episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airing nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don''t miss an episode: Subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
"The next 50 years belong to Alaska" — An interview with Gov. Mike Dunleavy
Listen: On the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer sits with Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy to explore the state’s pivotal role in America’s energy, technology, and national security. Alaska sits at the heart of some of America's thorniest geopolitical challenges. Its renewable resources, natural gas, rare earth minerals, and freshwater make it a critical part of the country's energy and technology futures, while its strategic location near Russia and China underscores its geopolitical importance. No one understands better than Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, who drills into Alaska's energy and economic potential and discusses US national security concerns within a melting Arctic on the GZERO World Podcast.
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.Coronavirus Politics Daily: Alaska's COVID dilemma, global child deaths set to rise, Spain fears second wave
Alaska's brush with COVID-19: Until now, the US state of Alaska has been unscathed by the coronavirus crisis. But with the state's lucrative fishing season about to start, hundreds of fishing boat crews from around the country have descended on Alaskan villages, bringing the disease with them. The first coronavirus case was identified recently in the town of Cordova, when a Seattle-based worker tested positive. The pandemic puts Alaskan officials in a bind: they want to protect their residents, but they don't want to cripple the fishing industry, which generates $5 billion a year and accounts for 8 percent of statewide employment. But continuing with business as usual poses huge risks for workers, many of whom work in crowded fish processing plants – similar to the assembly line in meat-processing centers that have proven to be vectors of disease around the world. Local officials are weighing the dilemma at a time when Alaska has already taken a financial hit because of plummeting prices for oil, its main economic engine, as well as disruption to tourism, another big local industry.
Spain fears second wave: Spain, one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, has recently been slowly loosening lockdown restrictions as the peak of its outbreak recedes. But on Thursday, the country recorded 217 COVID-19 deaths, the highest daily toll in over a week, sparking fears of a second wave of infection. While things are significantly better than in early April, when almost 1,000 Spaniards died daily from the disease, preliminary anti-body testing across the country shows that only 5 percentof Spain's population, around 2.4 million people, have contracted the virus. Public health experts say that's well below the herd-immunity threshold that would allow society to return to something resembling normalcy. Whether the government will now move to slow or reverse the cautious reopening remains to be seen.
Global child mortality rates set to rise: Public health experts are warning that as lockdowns and travel restrictions reduce access to preventive care and vaccinations around the world, 1.2 million children could die over the next six months alone. This would be the first rise in global child mortality in six decades. Among the countries expected to be hardest hit are Brazil, Nigeria, Somalia, and Pakistan. At the beginning of the COVID outbreak, public health officials already warned of a resurgence of infectious diseases like measles and malaria. The UN, meanwhile, has warned that widespread hunger because of job losses could also compound health outcomes for millions of children and has appealed to the international community for $1.6 billion in aid. "We must not let decades of progress on reducing preventable child and maternal deaths, be lost," a UN spokesperson said.