Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Arctic Affairs Mike Sfraga emphasized that Alaska sits at the nexus of domestic and foreign policy during a presentation to the Alaska Senate Special Committee on Arctic Affairs Thursday afternoon.
President Joe Biden appointed Sfraga in February 2023, and he was confirmed by the Senate in September 2024. Sfraga tendered his resignation effective Jan. 20, “as is protocol” at the end of an administration.
“It’s not as long as I would’ve liked,” he said.
President Donald Trump has not nominated another Arctic ambassador.
Throughout his presentation, Sfraga stressed that Alaska is at the nexus of domestic and foreign policy, and that Alaska makes the United States an Arctic nation.
Sfraga called the Arctic “a big neighborhood but a very small community. Boy, is it dynamic, very dynamic.”
He said that the Arctic came up during several discussions at the Munich Security Conference in February.
“I kept thinking, ‘What role does our state play to benefit from the attention and how do we inform and influence what the United States will do and how do we inform and influence how the rest of the globe acts,’ and I think it’s consequential,” he said.
Sfraga said it’s time to lean forward and discuss the ways Alaska is connected to the Arctic. He emphasized the importance of Alaska as part of a “trans-Atlantic” and “trans-Arctic” alliance through what he called the “Seven Cs:” climate, commodities, commerce, connectivity, communities, cooperation and competition.
He expressed concern about increased Russian and Chinese military activity in the region. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “has not just disrupted cooperation in the north, it’s shredded parts of the cooperation in the North,” he said.
Sfraga also made several recommendations to expand U.S. capabilities in the Arctic.
He advocated for responsible resource development to reduce reliance on China, expanding the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program to the Aleutian Islands, and expanding the deepwater Port of Nome. Sfraga said that if the Port of Nome “is just a deep water port and that’s it, I think we have failed to realize the opportunities here for our state and frankly for our nation.” He advocated for creating a strategic security, research, and economic corridor in the Bering Strait through expanded infrastructure. These ideas, he said, would address one or more threats to the United States, build infrastructure, and put people to work.
Sen. Scott Kawasaki (D-Fairbanks) asked how Alaska can show its Arctic neighbors that the state is still willing to work with them.
Sfraga assured committee members that Alaskans have personal relationships with Arctic neighbors that go back decades.
“We think North,” he said. “We have the same struggles with some variations.”
Sen. Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage) asked how the lack of an Arctic ambassador impacts foreign relations within the Arctic.
“I’m a multilateralist. I believe in the trans-Atlantic alliance. I believe in NATO and our allies and partners,” Sfraga said. “There’s questions about U.S. foreign policy at the moment. It’s dampened these relationships. We’re watching the evolution of US foreign policy.”
President Trump has previously threatened to annex Greenland, an island controlled by Denmark, for national and international security purposes.
Contact Haley Lehman at 907-459-7575 or by email at hlehman@newsminer.com.
