East vs. West in the Arctic Circle

Then again, the Arctic presents a huge strategic opportunity for Mr. Putin to make gains against the West. Russia, the largest country on earth, has one big geostrategic disadvantage: limited access to the world’s oceans. Its Black Sea fleet, stationed in Crimea, could in case of conflict be denied passage through the Bosporus, whose gatekeeper, Turkey, is a NATO member. Mr. Putin’s Baltic fleet would meet the same obstacle in the Skagerrak, the strait between Denmark and Norway. But the Arctic is open territory — and, in a time of melting ice caps, open sea as well.