NATO Launches Arctic Exercise, Pledges to Protect Finland

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Facts

  • NATO countries launched military maneuvers in the Arctic this week as they vowed to defend Finland, which is hosting the joint exercises for the first time since joining the Western military organization in April.1
  • The Arctic Challenge, held every two years since 2013, kicked off on Monday. About 3K military personnel and 150 aircraft from 12 NATO countries, as well as Sweden and Switzerland, are taking part in the exercise in Finland, Norway, and Sweden.2
  • The live air exercise, which runs through June 9, is designed to improve the ability to perform safe and effective joint combat missions in large multinational air operations, according to the Finnish Army.3
  • This year's maneuver is the largest yet and comes after Finland, which shares a 1.3K-long (800-mile) border with Russia, ditched its longstanding policy of military nonalignment following the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and became NATO's newest member.4
  • US Army Maj. Gen. Gregory Anderson, who is overseeing the exercise, said on Tuesday that the US is participating in the drills to build joint capabilities that would 'help defend Finland if anything happened.'5
  • Meanwhile, at a joint press conference between Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, the Washington official urged Turkey to clear the way for Sweden's NATO accession in time for the NATO summit in mid-July. Ankara ratified Finland's NATO accession in March.6

Sources: 1Al Jazeera, 2Stars and stripes, 3Ilmavoimat, 4Barrons, 5Www.euractiv.com and 6Reuters.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. Finland's accession to NATO, along with the current exercises, shows that countries in close proximity to Russia are seeking protection from Moscow's neo-imperialist expansionism. This development amounts to a major strategic and foreign policy defeat for the Kremlin which, instead of weakening NATO through its aggressive policies, has further strengthened the defense alliance. Finland's and, ultimately, Sweden's accession to NATO are direct results of Russia's unjustified invasion of Ukraine.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Citizen. NATO isn't promoting peace and stability in the Russian neighborhood, but militarism and the interests of the West's military-industrial complex. In fact, it's the Washington-led military bloc that is constantly expanding toward the Russian border, not the other way around. NATO is not a defensive alliance but an aggressive and militaristic organization. By abandoning their long-standing neutrality, Finland and Sweden are making themselves vassals of Washington and its geopolitical ambitions.
  • Narrative C, as provided by Fair observer. This current NATO maneuver points to the ongoing race for dominance in the Arctic, which has so far received little global media attention. The vast region boasts untapped oil and gas reserves, as well as large quantities of rare minerals, and climate change is creating profitable new trade routes. As Russia continues to expand its military presence in the Arctic, NATO is eager to catch up in this strategically important region in which China also has ambitions. These developments suggest that the Arctic is emerging as a new backdrop of great-power rivalry.

Predictions