Sea Change

A sweeping account of how the Arctic became the next arena of global conflict as the great powers battle over trade routes, resources, and military dominance from Greenland to Siberia – by award-winning Financial Times journalist Rana Foroohar.

As polar ice melts and new sea routes open, the Arctic has become the most consequential – and least understood – geopolitical theatre in the world. In Sea Change, Rana Foroohar takes readers aboard America's only Arctic icebreaker and inside the halls of power in Washington, Beijing, Moscow and allied capitals to reveal how climate change is reshaping global trade, national security and industrial policy.

Drawing on unprecedented access to Coast Guard missions, senior officials across multiple presidential administrations, labour leaders and international partners, Foroohar shows how being a strong sea power is vital to global influence, and who is lagging behind. She also explains how control of Arctic shipping lanes, shipbuilding capacity, underwater data cables and untapped natural resources will determine economic and military supremacy in the decades ahead. Both a gripping voyage and a clear‑eyed analysis of geopolitical power, Sea Change argues that the new global hierarchy may well be decided at the top of the world.