The Trump administration’s 2025 National Security Strategy and 2026 National Defense Strategy rightly emphasize homeland defense and the Western Hemisphere, while reaffirming a commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. Yet both documents overlook a pivotal region: the North Pacific. This omission is strategic myopia, especially as the administration fixates on acquiring Greenland in the North Atlantic. The North Pacific sits at the intersection of homeland security and Indo-Pacific deterrence, and ignoring it risks ceding ground to Beijing and Moscow.
The North Pacific as a Geostrategic Hub
Alaska is not merely a US state; it is a forward-deployed platform. It hosts the world’s densest concentration of F-35 and F-22 fighters, the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, and the sensors of the joint North Warning System. These assets extend American power into the Bering Sea, a northern gateway of the Indo-Pacific that is often underestimated. As the Arctic becomes a key geostrategic arena for mid-21st-century global trade and energy, the North Pacific will serve as a critical entry and exit point for nations seeking alternatives to chokepoints like the Strait of Malacca.
Economic potential amplifies the stakes. The Alaska Outer Continental Shelf holds promise for offshore energy, critical minerals, rare earths, and fisheries. Over the coming decades, the North Pacific will attract increasing economic engagement—but only if the US maintains a credible presence to secure these resources.
Russia and China’s Coordinated Push
Moscow’s Arctic Policy 2035 prioritizes the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as a lifeline for Russian prosperity. Infrastructure investments aim to exploit energy and mineral reserves, with exports likely heading to Asian markets as Europe diversifies away from Russian supply. While Russia will continue energy deals with China, it is also eyeing Southeast and South Asia, making the North Pacific a logistical corridor for these flows.
Beijing’s Polar Silk Road mirrors these ambitions. With the Trump administration seeking to deny China use of the Panama Canal, supporting the NSR becomes a strategic hedge for Beijing. Developing the North Pacific route counters potential US efforts to restrict Chinese trade and energy security. This economic alignment is reinforced by a shared narrative: both Russia and China exploit the fact that the US is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They actively participate in UNCLOS while manipulating its framework through dual-use operations—evading sanctions, harassing indigenous communities, and sabotaging undersea infrastructure. This is not incidental; it is a calculated strategy to expand the boundaries of permissible behavior in contested waters.
If left unchecked, this collaboration could normalize illiberal governance in seabed mapping, resource extraction, and maritime safety. The North Pacific risks becoming a testing ground for eroding the rules-based order that underpins a free and open Indo-Pacific, while challenging Washington’s ability to monitor unconventional threats near its own shores.
Military Dimensions and Deterrence Gaps
The North Pacific is also an increasingly active military theater. Russia’s Pacific Fleet operates nuclear-powered submarines in the region, and China has expanded joint drills with Russian naval, air, and coast guard forces. These exercises are designed to degrade confidence in Washington’s capacity to deny Chinese freedom of maneuver outside the First Island Chain. The optics of US weakness are particularly damaging: if allies and adversaries perceive that Washington cannot secure its own backyard, deterrence credibility erodes across the entire Indo-Pacific.
Insufficient attention to the North Pacific could create an exploitable vacuum. The US must integrate this region into its defense planning, not as an afterthought but as a core component of homeland defense and Indo-Pacific strategy. This includes bolstering sensor networks, increasing naval patrols, and deepening cooperation with allies like Japan and South Korea, whose own security interests intersect with the North Pacific. As US-Japan missile drills turn the Philippines into a forward base, similar attention must be paid to the northern approaches.
The stakes are clear: the North Pacific is where homeland defense meets great-power competition. Without a deliberate strategy, Washington risks allowing Beijing and Moscow to shape the region’s rules, resources, and military balance to their advantage.
