The Economic Development organization serving Alaska

Anchoring America in the Arctic

By Melanie Welsh, Executive Director, Alaska Unlimited 

 

I don’t often use the term “New Arctic.” For my family and generations of Alaskan Natives, the Arctic is not new — it is ancient. It has always been globally relevant. Conflict, trading, diplomacy, survival, and resource development have long shaped life in our region. The players aren’t necessarily new. The themes aren’t new. What is new are the scale of the opportunities.

 

When China released its Polar Silk Road plan in 2018 and began posturing as a “near-Arctic state” while investing millions into Arctic infrastructure and access, the world suddenly began to see our region as relevant. As far back as 1925, General Billy Mitchell testified before the U.S. Congress that Alaska is the most strategic place in the world, we still failed to give the region the attention it deserves. The Biden administration overlooked the strategic importance of Alaska and denied Alaskans and Indigenous landowners the opportunity to prepare for the next iteration of strategic competition.  Meanwhile, the Northern Sea Route has seen a 44% increase in transit traffic from the prior year, benefiting Russian and Chinese interests. Alaska is not just America’s only Arctic state — it is our front line. Yet we are under-invested, under-built and underutilized.

 

To safeguard U.S. sovereignty, secure critical resources, and protect strategically vital regions, we must substantially ramp up our defense posture in Alaska. This includes building new military installations, homeporting icebreakers, siting Arctic-capable advanced aircraft, and innovating Arctic technology to lead the world North to the Future. There is emphasized need for a new base at Adak — a direct response to growing Chinese activity in the region. We’ve already seen Chinese influence and incursions across Alaska and the broader Arctic. Adversarial interests have made significant progress infiltrating, investing in, and compromising our infrastructure, resource development projects, real estate, capital, and more.

 

This is not just a matter of U.S. national security and defense — it's also about building economic opportunity. Expanding military infrastructure would inject billions of dollars into the state’s economy. According to the Department of Defense, military spending already contributes nearly $3 billion annually to Alaska’s GDP and supports over 20,000 jobs. Strategic expansion could double that economic impact over the next decade and grow robust support sectors across the state. It would also catalyze investment and growth in critical infrastructure — roads, ports, railways — that benefit not just the military, but Alaska’s businesses and communities. It would open the door for the responsible development of Alaska’s critical materials, along with the much-needed processing and value-added manufacturing industries we have long called for. It would build intellectual capital in our state, spur innovation and see development positively impact the economic and social conditions in the Last Frontier. 

 

Alaska’s value isn’t just in what we hold — it’s also in how we will lead. Strategic planning and expeditious execution are necessary. We look forward to working to advance U.S. interests in the Arctic and develop thriving communities that will sustain generations to come.  Let us anchor America in the Arctic as the way North to the Future. 

 

 

Melanie Welsh is the Executive Director of Alaska Unlimited, the economic development organization for Alaska committed to building opportunity.  She is Yupik Eskimo, born and raised in rural western Alaska, a generational miner, the mother of three children and the wife of a now-retired U.S. Airman.