The United States has considerable interests in the Arctic and is one of just eight countries with territory in the region. The armed forces of the United States—particularly the U.S. Coast Guard—continually contend with safety, law enforcement, legal, security, and environmental issues in the region. New research from the RAND Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center finds that the United States has critical capacity and capability shortfalls in the Arctic that present risks to U.S. national security.
The new Report on the Arctic Capabilities of the U.S. Armed Forces presents findings on the U.S. and other armed forces’ capabilities in the Arctic, including how effectively the United States, its allies, and prospective rivals can operate in different parts of the region. The authors make recommendations to bolster U.S. Arctic strategy implementation, increase funding for Coast Guard Arctic assets and operations, and strengthen international and research partnerships to enhance the United States’ ability to secure its interests in the region.
This research was commissioned by the Coast Guard in response to Section 8424 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.
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