Analysis by Simon Szilvási
The melting of the Arctic region has vastly accelerated in the last decades as a result of climate change. The region offers numerous potential opportunities, one of them being the opening of new sea routes for commercial shipping. However, these same sea routes also present many challenges and their effciency is the subject of much discussion. Global powers such as Russia, China, and the United States are all attempting to expand their spheres of influence to the Arctic. The question of the future is therefore whether the sea routes will evolve as international shipping routes or remain domestic ones.