Last night I posted an article about Russia laying claim to a portion of the North Pole. Jay responded by asking why since the North Pole really doesn’t have any land to speak of. Well, it has much, much more of what Putin wants:
Populist newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda – a cheerleader for Putin – printed a map of the North Pole showing a “new addition” to Russia, a triangle five times the size of Britain with twice as much oil as Saudi Arabia.
[…]
A diplomatic source said that Russia was “seeking to secure its grip on oil and gas supplies for decades to come. Putin wants a strong Russia, and Western dependence for oil and gas supplies is a key part of his strategy. He no longer cares if his strategy upsets the West“.
Putin wants to expand his power, and there’s no better way to do that than through oil production. If it’s true that the North Pole has twice as much oil as Saudi Arabia and Putin is successful in getting control over that part of the North Pole, he could have a vast part of the industrialized world, including the US, over a barrel.
