I am sure that if I were to ask you what NATO is, the vast majority would be able
to tell me clearly what it is: A military alliance between
different countries that was created to confront the former Soviet Union.
In fact, NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, already counts 31 allied
countries, 32 if you count Sweden. In other words, we are talking about
the largest military alliance in the world by far. And I think we are all familiar with
the military power of many of the armies of the countries that make up this club.
Without going any further, there is the all-powerful United States of America. But what
if I told you that there is one country in NATO that has no military? Surely you would wonder:
how can there be a country without armed forces in a military alliance like NATO? Well, yes, this is
the case of our protagonist today: Iceland. Indeed, VisualPolitik viewers, this distant
island between Europe and America with barely 370,000 inhabitants and subsisting mainly thanks
to aluminum smelting, fishing and tourism, is the only NATO country without a military.
In fact, many believe that this is the main reason why Iceland
is the most peaceful country in the world. A position it has held for more than a decade.
But you may be wondering: how is it possible that it doesn't have a military?
It is certainly not the first country, nor will it be the last, not to have armed forces:
there are more than 30 countries in the world that do not have them. We are talking about
places like Andorra, Monaco and Panama, all of which are countries with small populations.
Nevertheless, it would be logical to think that if a country is in a military alliance,
it is because it has its own military. Don't you agree? And do you know what is the most
surprising thing of all? That for a long time Iceland was a major member of NATO.
How is this possible? Well, you see, although Iceland has no armed forces,
the country does have another tremendously valuable asset: its geographical position.
In fact, during the Cold War it became one of the most coveted territories for the great
superpowers. But why? What is so important about its location on the world map? How has Iceland
managed to take advantage of its location? Who defends this remote island in the case of an
attack or even an invasion? What role does it play in an Arctic increasingly militarized by Russia?
Well, today we are going to answer all these questions and more.
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Let me ask you a question: what is the first thing that comes to your mind if I mention
Iceland? Maybe the Vikings? Maybe volcanoes whose ash clouds could bring Europe to a standstill?
Yes, both of these things are very characteristic of this island but, apart from that,
we are talking about a country that has typically gone rather unnoticed throughout modern history.
After all, historically it was a distant island of the Kingdom of Denmark, desolated by poverty,
famine, epidemics and even the occasional volcanic eruption.
However, the fate of this place would begin to change in the middle of the twentieth century,
when first the United Kingdom, and then the United States, occupied the island between
1940 and 1944 in order to confront Nazi Germany in the northern Atlantic Ocean.
For the Icelanders it was inevitable, since in 1869 they had abolished their own armed
forces. The fact is that over time and particularly in the twentieth century,
Iceland became a strategic point, and that was something that the United States saw
very clearly. For this reason, Uncle Sam soon began to negotiate Iceland’s entry into NATO.
After gaining its independence in 1944, Iceland was quickly aware of its privileged geostrategic
position as the guardian of the North Atlantic. And besides that, in Reykjavik they were also
very aware of the foreign occupation of the island and its defencelessness.
So the move was clear: to become, along with other European countries, the United States and Canada,
a founding member of NATO, which would become one of the fundamental pillars of its defense.
However, after the outbreak of the Korean War, the fear of being attacked by the Soviet Union
skyrocketed on the island. Iceland urgently needed military personnel on its territory.
Therefore, in 1951 it finalized a defense agreement with the United States,
which is still in force today, and which is the other fundamental pillar of Icelandic
security. From that time until 2006, the so-called "Icelandic Defense Force" was deployed in Iceland,
with 1,350 US military personnel and another 100 civilians from
the US Department of Defense at the Keflavík naval air base. Iceland was secure at last.
The country of unpronounceable volcanoes got what it wanted:
to exploit its geographical position for protection, but it did not stop there. What
if I told you that Iceland's governments at this time were somewhat devious? What
if I told you that blackmail was a fairly typical tactic for the Icelandic government?
For example: between the 1950s and 1970s, Iceland fought with the United Kingdom
over fishing zones in what became known as the "Cod Wars". Iceland was progressively
expanding its zones without negotiating with the UK and this led to high tensions.
Well, amongst all this mess, the United States never dared to position itself on the British
side: Iceland's geopolitical position was too important for keeping a close eye on
a Soviet Union that was very active in the region. You know, cupboard love...
As you can see on this map, Iceland managed to
wildly expand its exclusive economic zone and fishing zones to 200 nautical miles.
And yes, I know what you are thinking... But that limit is the same that corresponds to all coastal
states. Well, yes, you are right, however, the curious thing about this story is how quickly
they managed to expand their exclusive economic zone by practically ten times.
However, they were soon to run out of luck. The Soviet Union fell and the Cold War ended:
the communist threat suddenly disappeared and with
it the American need to have a base in Iceland also vanished.
Therefore, since then, the United States began to withdraw its troops from the island so that
by 2006 there were no American boots left on Icelandic soil. The Icelandic Defense Force
became history and the Keflavík base was handed over to the Icelandic government,
which turned it into the country's main international airport.
The 1951 defense agreement with the United States remained in force and remains so today,
but there are no longer any military personnel on the island. However, that does not detract
from the fact that the departure of the US military left a huge security vacuum,
at least psychologically speaking, with a sense that the island nation had lost all
the geostrategic relevance it had been able to exploit for decades. And this is precisely
why Iceland began to act. Reykjavik began to take charge of its own security. But without
an military of its own, how on earth would it do that? Well, keep watching.
(ICY TENSIONS)
Rarely do we find countries that have taken more than 60 years to
legislate on the security of their territories as Iceland has done.
Security, after all, is usually one of the top priorities for any country that wants to
survive. But the reality is that Iceland did not need to do so until US troops left the country.
Of course, once Iceland realized its new reality, it did not take long to take action:
it concluded cooperation agreements with other NATO partners, created the Icelandic
Defense Agency in 2008, which was closed in 2011 due to lack of funds, passed its
Defense Act in 2008 and its National Security Policy in 2016... They did not stand idly by.
For that reason, today Iceland has a Coast Guard that, although it has existed since 1918,
has never been as large as it is now, with some 200 personnel among its ranks,
four ships and three medium helicopters. In addition, since the departure of the
United States, the country's police institutions have been strengthened.
And, as if that were not enough, Iceland has a paramilitary corps, the Crisis Response Unit,
which functions as a small force for international peacekeeping operations.
But take note because there is more. Iceland also has two crucial assets for NATO:
its Air Defense System, which operates four complex radars that serve as early
warning systems for NATO allies; as well as its own territory and climate,
which are exceptional for particularly tough military exercises known as "Northern Viking".
But, wait a minute. Let's be honest. Iceland's defensive capabilities are still rather weak,
especially if it wants to deal with major security challenges. And this is no mean feat.
You see, its reduced military capability is really worrying if we take a look at what
is happening in one of the points closest to Iceland and which has been gaining more
strategic importance over the last two decades: we are talking, of course, about the Arctic.
The Arctic, which has previously been discussed on VisualPolitik,
has been gaining special relevance in recent years for one reason in particular: melting ice.
The increased summer melting of ice masses is allowing new trade routes to emerge and
consolidate, and is opening up the possibility of being able to explore the vast resources it is
said to hold: up to 30% of all the world's natural gas reserves and 13% of the world's oil reserves.
This is why the Arctic has been experiencing increasing militarization on the part of one
player in particular, Russia. Russia has major interests in the Arctic region – after all,
80% of its natural gas and 17% of its oil is produced there. What's more,
the Arctic is also home to Russia's largest naval fleet, the Northern Fleet,
as well as its largest open sea outlet. So it's no wonder that Russia has gone to great lengths
to militarize the Arctic like no other country, causing the number of NATO bases in the region
to be increased by three times, something we've already told you about on this channel.
But, as you can imagine, Russia is not the only one interested in this area. What’s more,
China, which is not an Arctic nation like Sweden,
Norway or Iceland itself, has strong interests in the region.
Beijing already has civilian bases that can be used by its intelligence services in these three
countries. However, the Asian giant's interest in this area is not so much in the military field,
but above all in its commercial potential. You see, its main ambition in the region is
to promote the Northern Sea Route, to reduce the time and cost of sea transportation.
And also for its own security: with this route, China can also ensure that the
cargoes it has to receive in its ports are not interrupted either in the Strait
of Malacca or in the Indian Ocean, where it has a multitude of opponents, such as India.
That is why China has been supporting Russia, despite the sanctions, to make this route a
truly stable one. And not surprisingly, faced with such a possibility, the United States
could not be left out. It is true that Uncle Sam's interest in the Arctic has been, until recently,
reduced, but with the arrival of Trump to the presidency the subject began to gain importance.
For example, in 2018 the US Second Fleet was reestablished,
and in 2020 the American power conducted more than 20 military exercises in the Arctic. And,
as if that were not enough, we have recently been finding news like this:
(Iceland authorizes visits by US Nuclear Submarines – Highnorthnews)
This news, in fact, is more revealing than it seems. One might think that Iceland's
role in the great power disputes in the Arctic would not be too relevant. However,
the reality is that the role of this sparsely inhabited island
with no military is crucial in this whole strategic puzzle. Or to put it another way,
Iceland has regained its geopolitical importance. But why exactly? Let's find out.
(ICELAND, GUARDIAN OF THE BREACH)
We have all been watching over the last year and a half how Russia has been concentrating
its major efforts on invading Ukraine. Some might think that it has even neglected other
geopolitical objectives, and that may be so, but it is certainly not the case in the Arctic.
The icy northern region remains an absolute priority for Putin, which is why it is still
heavily militarized in spite of everything. Of course, you would think that by wasting so
many resources in Ukraine, Moscow couldn't be thinking about the Arctic, would they?
Nothing could be further from the truth. This area has seen hardly any reduction in Russian
military capabilities by sea or air, and only a slight reduction on the ground. In fact,
this is precisely what makes NATO countries and their allies very vigilant.
And given that Russia's presence in the region is something that can hardly be ignored,
standing up to Moscow directly is not something Iceland has often considered.
In fact, their relations have even been positive: for example, in 2013 they pledged to cooperate
more closely on Arctic protection and research. They have also reached agreements on fisheries,
energy and tourism. But all this has not made them forget their international commitments.
For example, in 2014 Iceland did not hesitate to condemn Russia's abuses when they invaded
and annexed Crimea, also joining Western sanctions despite the fact that its own fishing industry was
going to be hurt. Following that, by the way, news stories like this started to become commonplace:
(20 February 2015) Russian bombers spotted in Icelandic airspace – Icelandmonitor)
(26 September 2016) Iceland complains Russian bombers pose "danger to civilian aircraft"
Reykjavik says three Russian Tupulev Tu-160 military planes flew too close to
passenger flight for comfort in latest incident last Tuesday – The Guardian)
And, just as it did in 2014, when Russia invaded Ukraine again in early 2022,
Iceland again condemned and sanctioned it. What's more, despite not having a
military of its own and not being able to afford to send soldiers to the front,
Iceland has supported Ukraine in other ways: it has donated three field hospitals,
bought them 10 oil transport trucks and taken in 3,000 refugees, among other things.
Now, all this doesn't tell us much about the renewed geopolitical importance that we've
told you Iceland has recently taken on. So what exactly is that all about? Well, nothing less
than its central position in a very specific space, the so-called "GIUK gap", which stands
for Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom. The "GIUK gap" refers to the space separating
the Norwegian Sea from the North Atlantic Ocean, running from Greenland through
Iceland to the United Kingdom.This region had special relevance in the Cold War,
since it became a blockade point separating the Soviet Northern Fleet's area of operation
from NATO's Atlantic area. In other words, it functioned as a barrier against the Soviet forces.
For that reason, GIUK became one of the most closely watched areas in the world,
with Iceland playing a particularly important role,
as it enjoyed an almost peripheral view and extensive control of the region.
The thing is that today, VisualPolitik community,
Iceland has regained its relevant role at a time when Russia is clearly hostile again, with nuclear
and conventional submarine patrols not only in the Arctic region, but also in the "GIUK gap".
("The potential return to a Cold War-like situation, with submarines deployed around
Iceland and strategic bomber flights now threatening again, has provided Iceland with
an excellent opportunity to once again attract the military interest of the United States and
NATO and thus gain territorial security in uncertain times from its NATO allies and,
above all, from the great American power" – Alejandro Mackinlay, reservist assigned to the
General Staff of the Spanish Navy in an article in the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies)
You see, Iceland is the best proof that you don't need your own military to be influential,
secure and prosper. What's more, it may be one of the best examples of how,
by playing well, even with the worst cards you can work miracles.
Iceland has returned to the geopolitical chessboard fueled by a fresh conflict
between the West and Russia, and it may now, with an Arctic heavily militarized by Putin,
have an even more pivotal role in policing the GIUK gap than it did during the Cold War.
But at this point the questions are for you: are we facing the beginning of another long
period of Icelandic strategic importance? Will Iceland once again play self-serving
games with its partners as it did during the Cold War? Will they ask for a greater
foreign military presence in the face of an increasingly present Russia in the Arctic?
You can leave us your answers in the comments. And as always,
if you liked this video don't forget to like and subscribe to our channel. And of course,
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Once again, thank you very much for watching. All the best and see you next time.