From High North News, December 19:
report on developments in the High North over the past year.
Comment: We are about to close on a turbulent year, to put it mildly. It might have been the most turbulent any of us can remember. So let us hope that next year offers something different, such as the Arctic remaining a region without armed conflict.
This is a comment written by a member of the editorial staff. All views expressed are the writer's own.
We are bombarded almost daily by analyses of the Arctic situation. These are busy times for politicians, the Armed Forces, and a handful of experts. And so are we, who are tasked with following and communicate the analyses to our readers.
Central actors in relaying the threats faced by the High North are the intelligence services is the Norwegian and Danish Defence Intelligence Services. Their reports, respectively named Fokus (Norwegian intelligence) and Utsyn (Danish intelligence), describe these threats.
Or more accurately, the threats the Armed Forces believe should be readily available.
The view of USA
I previously wrote a comment on the Danish report. Now, both countries' reports lie on my desk. Both countries control central, strategic areas in the North. Denmark has Greenland, and Norway has Northern Norway and Svalbard.
In addition, Denmark and Norway also have a close intelligence cooperation, including through NATO. In other words, they hold the same information when assessing the threat landscape.
Denmark has Greenland, we have Svalbard.
Yet, the difference in the two documents is striking.
The most significant difference is the view of the USA, which Danish intelligence describes as a threat to Danish interests and other allies. This is particularly rooted in the conflict about Greenland. The Norwegian report holds few signs of scepticism toward the US.
But the analyses also highlight differences in terms of the Arctic....
....MUCH MORE
Our last visit to High North News was December 22's "Russia’s Arctic Shipping Route Turns Into “Dark Fleet” Corridor Used by 100 Sanctioned Vessels".
That was preceded by the post mentioned above, "Denmark Sees US As Potential Security Concern".
