Current balance of forces in the Arctic Insiders have told US business media that Washington has identified the Arctic as a domain for potential cooperation with Moscow on resource and energy exploration and new trade routes. Who controls what in the Arctic today? 1️⃣Russia: Claims about 50% of the Arctic (2.1M sq. km, including the North Pole) and has the world’s largest icebreaking fleet (45 large vessels) and extensive commercial and military infrastructure to back its ambitions. 2️⃣US: Claims around 10% of the Arctic and recently expanded claims off Alaska, the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean to overlap with Canada. The US has just one heavy icebreaker for sustained operations. 3️⃣Canada: Claims 25% of the Arctic with a 1.9M sq. km continental shelf claim, partly overlapping with Russia’s. Canada has 15 icebreakers, half of them capable of working in the far north. 4️⃣Denmark: Claims 20% of the Arctic via Greenland, including the North Pole. May have a hard time enforcing its claims after scrapping all of its icebreakers. With Greenlanders eying independence, and the US eying Greenland, the Kingdom may have bigger problems to worry about. 5️⃣Norway: Claims 5% (235k sq. km) and operates two Arctic-class icebreakers. Has sought to strengthen its Arctic presence mostly with NATO forces stationed across 13 regional bases. Note: Due to overlapping claims, the continental shelf claim figures above amount to more than 100%.