Closing the U.S. Strategic Gap in Icebreaker Capacity

Allen, Craig H.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3016484

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Closing the U.S. Strategic Gap in Icebreaker Capacity

University of Washington School of Law Research Paper No. 2017-16

25 Pages Posted: 12 Aug 2017 Last revised: 29 May 2018

See all articles by Craig H. Allen

Craig H. Allen

University of Washington - School of Law

Date Written: August 10, 2017

Abstract

For over three decades U.S. Coast Guard leaders have struggled to address the strategic risk to the nation created by the exhaustively-studied yet still unresolved U.S. “icebreaker deficit.” This article examines the current state of the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaking fleet and recent proposals to close the gap between the Coast Guard’s Arctic and Antarctic region mission demands, including navigation access, maritime search and rescue, marine environmental protection and scientific research support, and the Coast Guard’s capacity to meet those demands.

Keywords: Coast Guard, Arctic, Antarctic, Icebreaker, Congress, Russia, Alaska, Canada, Polar Star, Polar Sea, Healy

JEL Classification: F1, F18, F5, F52, F53, F55, F64, H56, H62, K19

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Allen, Craig H., Closing the U.S. Strategic Gap in Icebreaker Capacity (August 10, 2017). University of Washington School of Law Research Paper No. 2017-16, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3016484 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3016484