The Foreign Service Journal, May 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2021 45 and funded regional studies center I helped secure through leg- islation that promotes security cooperation in the Arctic. I have confidence and trust in our State Department leaders to effectively represent America’s interest and values abroad. As the late Senator John McCain said: “Our values are our strength and greatest treasure. We are distinguished from other countries because we are not made from a land or tribe or particular race or creed, but from an ideal that liberty is the inalienable right of mankind and in accord with nature and nature’s Creator.” I ask that our current diplomatic leaders and Foreign Service and Civil Service officers recommit to representing our national values in the Arctic while also representing the values of a proud and true Arctic nation to the rest of the world. The United States must be prepared to shape the contours of a future Arctic that takes into account the equities of all Arctic peoples and reflects the norms, values and interests of the United States and like-minded nations. And when our ideals differ from those of other nations, we must deflect the urge to immediately call on our tanks and troops. We must diplomatically engage in the Arctic in the same way our diplomats do so well across the rest of the world. I believe that in doing this, our diplomats will uncover the ideas and meet the people who truly make the Arctic exceptional, which in turn will allow the Arctic to remain a place of harmony and collaboration. The Arctic can continue to be a place of peace if we only try. n Ready or not, Arctic and non- Arctic countries are coming to the Arctic, and both Arctic and non-Arctic countries know the region’s resources play a vital role in their futures.