The Strategy of the Arctic

Abstract

W X rAR is the use of force as an instrument of national policy. The aim of war is to impose one's will on the enemy. These two definitions are as valid today as ever they were. It is particularly interesting to note that they do not say what kind of force is to be used; nor do they say anything about defeating the enemy in the field. In fact, any process which will accomplish the aim of war-to compel one group to submit to the will of another-is a valid form of hostilities. Furthermore, the use of any kind of pressure, whether it be moral, economic, or physical, is the use of force within the defined meaning. Moral force may be applied by propaganda, such as the radio, the press, literature, moving pictures, word of mouth, and countless other ways. It may be applied by political mancouvre deliberately designed to hinder the free functioning of another government. Again, pressure may be applied in the economic sphere by withholding vital raw materials, by flooding markets, by raising trade barriers, or by lowering the productive rate of the labour force and causing currency inflation. Force, too, can be applied in more direct ways, by discrediting individuals, by kidnapping, by assassination, by armed insurrection and, of course, by the conventional employment of force on the grand scale through the use of the armed services. We see around us today all these variations on the theme of war. I emphasize this because they are as yet too little appreciated, and in dealing with the problems of the Arctic it is most essential that we avoid the misconception that would arise if we thought only of armies fighting battles in the snow. Transport in War. In the old days international competition was confined to conflict with one's neighbours. The transportation problem when the bowman cut his arrows in the nearby wood, and lived by robbing the unfortunate peasantry, was a very simple matter. Of recent years, however, the complication of modern mechanized forces, the vast distances separating the antagonists, and the enormous scale of operations, have all combined to make the problem of transportation one of vital concern. It has, in fact, become a major element of warfare. Without efficient transport the full measure of a nation's effort cannot be brought to bear. There is a tendency to regard the aeroplane as an alternative to the older type of surface carrier. This is only true within the limitation that the value of air transportation must justify its higher cost. A common comparison is to place the various methods of transport in the following order of cost per ton-mile: ship, rail, motor vehicle, and aeroplane. Very roughly speaking, each costs about ten times as much as its predecessor in 466