Photo By Hannah Smith | Matthew Hickey, associate director for Strategic Engagement at the Ted Stevens Center...... read more read more
The Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies hosted a panel on strategic competition in the Arctic–Pacific during the 2025 Arctic Encounter Symposium, bringing together senior diplomats and Arctic experts from the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Canada to discuss the growing strategic ties between the two regions.
Moderated by Matthew Hickey, associate director for Strategic Engagement at the TSC, the panel featured Ambassador Katsuhiko Takahashi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for Arctic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan); H.E. Byung-ha Chung, Ambassador for Polar Affairs (Republic of Korea); Sara Cohen, Deputy Head of Mission, Foreign Policy & National Security, Embassy of Canada in the United States (Canada); and Ambassador Mike Sfraga, PhD, Former U.S. Ambassador for Arctic Affairs and Interim Chancellor of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (United States).
In front of a packed room, panelists emphasized that the Arctic and Indo-Pacific are deeply interconnected strategic theaters. The Arctic serves not only as a vital transit corridor linking the Indo-Pacific, North America, and Europe, but also as the front line of homeland defense for the United States. Increased maritime access, expanding resource competition, and intensifying great power competition mean that actions in the Pacific increasingly reverberate across the Arctic, and vice versa.
Speakers discussed how cooperation across North Pacific is essential to protecting the interests of the United States and our allies and partners.
Japan and the Republic of Korea stressed the importance of coordination with the United States and Canada to deter aggression and ensure freedom of navigation, while also highlighting opportunities for collaboration on advanced Arctic-capable technology and innovative research. Both countries share a strong commitment to maintaining stability in the Arctic while ensuring security in the wider Indo-Pacific.
The dialogue reinforced the Department of Defense’s commitment to deterrence while strengthening cooperation with allies across the Indo-Pacific and the Arctic. By convening this discussion, the TSC continues to drive partnerships essential to a secure and prosperous, free, and open Indo-Pacific.
The Arctic Encounter Symposium, the largest annual Arctic policy forum in the United States, provided an ideal forum for this exchange, bringing together government leaders, international allies and partners, industry representatives, and Indigenous voices to address the challenges and opportunities at the nexus of Arctic and Indo-Pacific security.
| Date Taken: | 08.04.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.29.2025 17:56 |
| Story ID: | 546935 |
| Location: | ANCHORAGE, ALASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 25 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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