Latest news with #Seward'sFolly
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Alaska is a 'strategic' location for Trump-Putin summit
But Alaska itself is preparing to play an increasing role on the world stage as climate change opens up new shipping routes close to the North Pole as Russia, China and the United States contest the polar seas for dominance. More: It was sold in 1867, but some Russians want Alaska back from the US Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican, said in a statement that picking Alaska was natural: His home state is "the most strategic place in the world." The United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 under what was dubbed "Seward's Folly" by the then-Interior secretary William Seward, who persuaded Congress to pony up the equivalent of $160 million in today's dollars. Trump has visited Alaska several times as president, pushed for expanded oil, gas and mining permits there, and even got funding for new polar icebreakers, a popular stance in a state he won with 54% of the vote in 2024. The face-to-face meeting between the men was billed as a "listening exercise" by the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. "The goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war," Leavitt told reporters during an Aug. 12 news briefing. Safe space for Putin Historians and political scientists say the location offers a surprising variety of benefits, chief among them the fact that no one is likely to try arrest Putin there. The two men are meeting as part of Trump's efforts to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Putin after indicting him for war crimes. "I don't think it's a good time for him to go to Europe," former Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell said of Putin. In addition to the arrest warrant, the Russian strongman might have trouble flying over Europe and Canada, both of which have closed their airspace to Russian aircraft. The United States has done the same, but Trump is apparently waiving that Biden-era ban for Putin's visit. Trump's flight from Washington, DC, will take about seven hours. Some experts have also criticized Trump's decision to host Putin on U.S. soil - no matter how far it is from the White House - because it legitimizes the Russian leader. Putin last year received 87% of the votes cast in the Russian presidential election, a statistic one elections expert likened to the "sham" elections held in African dictatorships. Closer than most people realize Because Russia and Alaska are separated only by a narrow stretch of the Bering Sea - yes, there are places where you can really see Russia from your American house - the logistics of getting both men there are relatively simple, Russian presidential assistant Yuri Ushakov told the BBC. The closest distance between the two countries are the tiny islands of Little and Big Diomede. Little Diomede is American, while Big Diomede is Russian, although families have long been split between the two, a reflection of Russia's former ownership of Alaska. The two islands are just three miles apart. The two mainlands themselves are only 55 miles apart where Alaska's Seward Peninsula and Russia's Chukotka Peninsula sit on opposite sides of the Bering Sea. The National Park Service's Bering Land Bridge National Preserve exists in part to highlight how the two peninsulas were once connected, allowing ancient peoples to migrate from the Eurasian landmass east into North America. "It seems quite logical for our delegation simply to fly over the Bering Strait and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held in Alaska," Ushakov said. Because Alaska was once part of Russia, some cultural ties also remain: There are about 80 Russian Orthodox churches and chapels still standing across Alaska, many of them on the state's western islands and peninsulas close to the Bering Sea. The first Russian Orthodox Church was established in on Kodiak Island in 1794, and Holy Resurrection Orthodox Cathedral still holds services there. During the Cold War, the threat of Soviet invasion from the west prompted heavy defense investment in missile-warning systems in Alaska, along with marine and air patrols that continue to this day. The base where Putin and Trump are meeting is home to fighter aircraft like the F-22 Raptor, which is used to intercept Russian military planes as they fly close to the border. Russian invasion pushed Ukrainians to Alaska While there has long been a Russian community in Alaska, several hundred Ukranian refugees have also moved there under federal humanitarian programs following Russia's 2022 invasion. Trump put that program on indefinite hold upon taking office. Trump is meeting with Putin without Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a move that has concerned some European leaders who have pledged their unconditional support in his country's efforts to repel Russia. European leaders have expressed concern that Trump would pressure Ukraine to make too many concessions to Putin. But Treadwell said he believes everyone can agree that ending the war should be a top priority, and if this meeting in Alaska is what it takes, it's worth it. "There are a lot of former Russians who live in Alaska and a lot of former Ukranians who live in Alaska," he said. "If this leads to peace, I think we'd all be very happy." Alaska has long been a stopover for diplomatic missions In addition to its strategic military importance, Anchorage is a familiar stopover for diplomatic missions traveling between Europe and Asia. In 1971, President Richard Nixon met with the Emperor of Japan on the tarmac in Anchorage as Hirohito traveled to Europe for meetings. It was the first time a reigning Japanse monarch had stepped foot on foreign soil, Nixon said, according to his presidential library. Nixon also noted their meeting took place approximately equidistant from the White House as to Tokyo. Pope John Paul II stopped in Anchorage in 1981 on his way back to Rome from Japan, touring the city and meeting with the faithful. He also met with President Ronald Reagan in Fairbanks in 1984. In 2021, then-Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with his Chinese counterparts for several days of trade talks held at a hotel that was considered the midpoint between the two country's capitals. Trump-Putin meeting comes during Alaska's busiest season While the White House has not discussed the reason for having the meeting on the military base, one factor may have played a key role: This is Alaska's tourist season and every place else is booked solid. More than 2 million tourists visit Alaska annually, the vast majority of them traveling via cruise ships and the historic Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Denali National Park, according to state statistics. Trump early on in his administration named Denali back to its former name of Mount McKinley, which President Barack Obama had renamed to honor Alaska Native people. Trump said he was changing the name back to honor the tariff-loving former President William McKinley, who was also responsible for adding Hawaii, Guam and several other territories to the United States. Federal officials have warned that passenger and cargo flights to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport may be affected by temporary flight restrictions during the Trump-Putin meeting on Aug. 15 and early Aug. 16. August is the airport's second-busiest month behind July, according to airport officials. The flight restrictions will also impact the adjacent Lake Hood Seaplane Base, the world's busiest seaplane base. Although many other presidents have taken their counterparts on sighteeing trips, or used state visits to do their own tourism, there's little indication Trump and Putin will be taking the time to go fishing or land on a glacier. Intead, Trump said he expects to know "probably in the first two minutes," whether he can reach a deal with Putin. Treadwell, who was the state's lieutenant governor from 2010-2014, said there could be another reason for Trump to agree to meet at JBER: the sprawling 36-hole Moose Run Golf Course. Along with sand traps and water hazards, he said, players there must periodically avoid moose and bears. "In the summer here, you can play golf until almost midnight, but I doubt he'll have time for that," he said. "I think people of all political stripes hope this meeting will produce peace."
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Politics
- Business Insider
Vintage photos show Alaska before it became a state
Alaska was controversially purchased by the US from Russia in 1867. Critics called the transaction "Seward's Folly" after US Secretary of State William Seward. Alaska was officially made the 49th state in January 1959. One commonly accepted theory was that the first people traveled to North America from Asia via the Bering Land Bridge, although more recent discoveries suggest they made their way by sea. Russia began colonizing Alaska and other parts of North America in the late 1700s, establishing Russian America and making money off the fur trade. But by the 1860s, the fur trade had declined due to over-hunting. US critics dubbed the purchase "Seward's Folly," named for then-Secretary of State William Seward because they felt the land, which they called an "icebox," was useless. The transaction was also made against the wishes of some Native Alaskans, who argued it wasn't Russia's land to sell, according to the Alaska Native Foundation. Three decades later, the Klondike Gold Strike brought thousands of migrants to the territory. Alaska officially became a state 92 years after the transaction, in January 1959, making it the 49th state. Hawaii became the 50th state that same year. Now, Alaska is a popular tourist destination, with thousands of people traveling there via cruise each year. It's also the location of President Donald Trump's high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. As well as a symbolic choice, considering the state's history with Russia, it's also a practical one: It's the closest US state to Russia, and Putin, who is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes, can step foot there without fear of arrest. These vintage photos show what Alaska looked like before it became part of the United States. 1955: This photo of a group of Indigenous Alaskans was taken 70 years ago.
USA Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Why is Alaska the 'most strategic place' for Trump-Putin meeting?
Among other advantages, Alaska is a safe place for Putin, an indicted war criminal, to fly to. Why Alaska? After all, the state known as the Last Frontier isn't exactly a typical hotbed of international diplomacy. But that's where President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have mutually agreed to meet Aug. 15. The meeting will take place on the grounds of Anchorage's sprawling Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, which lacks the gold-covered facilities both men are so fond of. The base is thousands of miles from both the White House and the Kremlin, and it sits on land that once belonged to Russia. But Alaska itself is preparing to play an increasing role on the world stage as climate change opens up new shipping routes close to the North Pole as Russia, China and the United States contest the polar seas for dominance. Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican, said in a statement that picking Alaska was natural: His home state is "the most strategic place in the world." The United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 under what was dubbed "Seward's Folly" by the then-Interior secretary William Seward, who persuaded Congress to pony up the equivalent of $160 million in today's dollars. Trump has visited Alaska several times as president, pushed for expanded oil, gas and mining permits there, and even got funding for new polar icebreakers, a popular stance in a state he won with 54% of the vote in 2024. The face-to-face meeting between the men was billed as a "listening exercise" by the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. "The goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war," Leavitt told reporters during an Aug. 12 news briefing. Safe space for Putin Historians and political scientists say the location offers a surprising variety of benefits, chief among them the fact that no one is likely to try arrest Putin there. The two men are meeting as part of Trump's efforts to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Putin after indicting him for war crimes. "I don't think it's a good time for him to go to Europe," former Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell said of Putin. In addition to the arrest warrant, the Russian strongman might have trouble flying over Europe and Canada, both of which have closed their airspace to Russian aircraft. The United States has done the same, but Trump is apparently waiving that Biden-era ban for Putin's visit. Trump's flight from Washington, DC, will take about seven hours. Some experts have also criticized Trump's decision to host Putin on U.S. soil ‒ no matter how far it is from the White House ‒ because it legitimizes the Russian leader. Putin last year received 87% of the votes cast in the Russian presidential election, a statistic one elections expert likened to the "sham" elections held in African dictatorships. Closer than most people realize Because Russia and Alaska are separated only by a narrow stretch of the Bering Sea ‒ yes, there are places where you can really see Russia from your American house ‒ the logistics of getting both men there are relatively simple, Russian presidential assistant Yuri Ushakov told the BBC. The closest distance between the two countries are the tiny islands of Little and Big Diomede. Little Diomede is American, while Big Diomede is Russian, although families have long been split between the two, a reflection of Russia's former ownership of Alaska. The two islands are just three miles apart. The two mainlands themselves are only 55 miles apart where Alaska's Seward Peninsula and Russia's Chukotka Peninsula sit on opposite sides of the Bering Sea. The National Park Service's Bering Land Bridge National Preserve exists in part to highlight how the two peninsulas were once connected, allowing ancient peoples to migrate from the Eurasian landmass east into North America. "It seems quite logical for our delegation simply to fly over the Bering Strait and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held in Alaska," Ushakov said. Because Alaska was once part of Russia, some cultural ties also remain: There are about 80 Russian Orthodox churches and chapels still standing across Alaska, many of them on the state's western islands and peninsulas close to the Bering Sea. The first Russian Orthodox Church was established in on Kodiak Island in 1794, and Holy Resurrection Orthodox Cathedral still holds services there. During the Cold War, the threat of Soviet invasion from the west prompted heavy defense investment in missile-warning systems in Alaska, along with marine and air patrols that continue to this day. The base where Putin and Trump are meeting is home to fighter aircraft like the F-22 Raptor, which is used to intercept Russian military planes as they fly close to the border. Russian invasion pushed Ukrainians to Alaska While there has long been a Russian community in Alaska, several hundred Ukranian refugees have also moved there under federal humanitarian programs following Russia's 2022 invasion. Trump put that program on indefinite hold upon taking office. Trump is meeting with Putin without Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a move that has concerned some European leaders who have pledged their unconditional support in his country's efforts to repel Russia. European leaders have expressed concern that Trump would pressure Ukraine to make too many concessions to Putin. But Treadwell said he believes everyone can agree that ending the war should be a top priority, and if this meeting in Alaska is what it takes, it's worth it. "There are a lot of former Russians who live in Alaska and a lot of former Ukranians who live in Alaska," he said. "If this leads to peace, I think we'd all be very happy." Alaska has long been a stopover for diplomatic missions In addition to its strategic military importance, Anchorage is a familiar stopover for diplomatic missions traveling between Europe and Asia. Trump-Putin meeting comes during Alaska's busiest season While the White House has not discussed the reason for having the meeting on the military base, one factor may have played a key role: This is Alaska's tourist season and every place else is booked solid. More than 2 million tourists visit Alaska annually, the vast majority of them traveling via cruise ships and the historic Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Denali National Park, according to state statistics. Trump early on in his administration named Denali back to its former name of Mount McKinley, which President Barack Obama had renamed to honor Alaska Native people. Trump said he was changing the name back to honor the tariff-loving former President William McKinley, who was also responsible for adding Hawaii, Guam and several other territories to the United States. Federal officials have warned that passenger and cargo flights to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport may be affected by temporary flight restrictions during the Trump-Putin meeting on Aug. 15 and early Aug. 16. August is the airport's second-busiest month behind July, according to airport officials. The flight restrictions will also impact the adjacent Lake Hood Seaplane Base, the world's busiest seaplane base. Although many other presidents have taken their counterparts on sighteeing trips, or used state visits to do their own tourism, there's little indication Trump and Putin will be taking the time to go fishing or land on a glacier. Intead, Trump said he expects to know "probably in the first two minutes," whether he can reach a deal with Putin. Treadwell, who was the state's lieutenant governor from 2010-2014, said there could be another reason for Trump to agree to meet at JBER: the sprawling 36-hole Moose Run Golf Course. Along with sand traps and water hazards, he said, players there must periodically avoid moose and bears. "In the summer here, you can play golf until almost midnight, but I doubt he'll have time for that," he said. "I think people of all political stripes hope this meeting will produce peace."
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
As Trump, Putin meet in Alaska, story of how ‘Russian America' came to US
In the early hours of March 30, 1867, US Secretary of State William H Seward signed a $7.2 million deal to acquire Alaska from the Russians. The Alaska Purchase was widely criticised at the time. Newspapers famously called the deal 'Seward's Folly' and referred to the frigid Arctic territory as 'Seward's Icebox' and 'Walrussia'. Yet, when asked by a friend what he considered the most significant act of his career, Seward replied without hesitation: 'The purchase of Alaska… But it will take the people a generation to find it out.' As things turned out, he was right. As the American and Russian Presidents meet in Anchorage on Friday, here's the story of how the US acquired Russian America, and in the process struck gold (and oil). Humans have called Alaska home since at least 14,000 BCE when foraging groups crossed over a land bridge that connected the Chukchi and Seward peninsulae. Then, some 10,000 years ago, sea levels rose and the Americas were cut off from the rest of the world for more than nine millenia. (Scholars have long debated about pre-Columbian contact between the Old and New Worlds, but evidence thus far has been wanting). There is no clear record of when Europeans first visited Alaska, although it is likely to have been some time in the 17th century. It was in the 18th century, however, that two expeditions funded by St Petersburg and led by Vitus Bering, a Danish-born Russian cartographer, returned after exploring the northwestern coast of Alaska. Colonisation began soon after, spurred by the fur trade. 'If it had not been for the sea otter and its beautiful fur, the Russians would have been in no hurry to follow up on Bering's discoveries. Within a few years the hunt for fur led to the enslavement of the native Alaskans called Aleuts, and to the virtual extinction of the sea otter in that part of the world,' historian Daniel Cohen wrote in The Alaska Purchase (1996). The Russian-American Company, Russia's first joint-stock company, officially came into being in 1799 with the mission of establishing new settlements in Alaska and conducting trade. The Russian American colony was based largely on the coast. Operating out of the island settlement of Novo-Arkhangelsk (now known as Sitka), at its peak, Russian America stretched all the way to Fort Ross in California. (The Company sold Fort Ross in 1841). By the mid-19th century, the Russians had hunted most of the bear, wolf, and sea otter populations, valuable for their furs and pelts, to near-extinction. As profits from the once-lucrative fur trade dwindled, Russian America, often referred to in St Petersburg as 'Siberia's Siberia', became an albatross around the neck of the Romanovs, and a drain on state resources. 'The fate of Russian America had become a subject of concern and debate in Russia even before the outbreak of the Crimean War (1853–56),' historian Lee A Farrow wrote in Seward's Folly: A New Look at the Alaska Purchase (2017). But it was the Crimean War, in which Russia suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of an alliance comprising the French, the British, and the Ottomans, that proved to be a final nail in the coffin for Russian imperial ambitions in America. 'In the spring of 1857, Grand Duke Constantine, brother of the new tsar, Alexander II, wrote to Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Gorchakov that Russia should sell its North American territories to the United States,' Farrow wrote. 'The grand duke emphasised the needs of the Russian treasury, the declining value of the colony, and his belief that the Americans were eager to control the whole of North America,' she wrote. It would take another decade of on-and-off negotiations with the Americans for the deal to materialise. By all accounts, Seward's enthusiasm was what made the deal happen. 'Seward was an energetic and ambitious man who yearned to be President… He certainly typified the expansionist mood of mid-nineteenth-century America. Seward didn't want just Alaska; he envisioned the US taking over Hawaii and the Philippines, and to the north Greenland, Iceland, and even Canada,' Cohen wrote. That said, there were some sound economic and geopolitical considerations to make the purchase, even at the time. Many believed that Alaska would help expand commercial relations with Asia, making new ports and routes available for the Pacific trade. Others, like Seward, saw the purchase as a stepping stone to eventually taking over British Columbia. But the true economic value of the colony would gradually be realised over the next century. By the 1870s, with the gold fields in California depleting, some prospectors began making their way to Alaska. A couple of them struck gold on Alaska's southeastern coast in 1880. While gold was never a major source of wealth for the economy as a whole, it helped capture people's imagination, sent many flocking to the frigid north, and made some lucky ones extremely rich. Much more transformative was the discovery of oil — and a lot of it. After a few promising findings in the 1950s, oil prospectors began taking greater interest in Alaska. In 1968, America's largest oil and gas deposit was discovered in Prudhoe Bay, a remote region along Alaska's northernmost coast, profoundly changing Alaska almost overnight. 'Alaska has become established as America's greatest oil province,' Alaska Governor William A Egan said in a 1970 speech, according to an article in NPR. 'Ponder for a moment the promise, the dream, and the touch of destiny.'
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Trump-Putin summit spotlights Alaska's awesome beauty, vulnerabilities
Cold, dark and snowy in the winter, the base gets near round-the-clock sun at summer's peak. More: Trump threatens Russia with 'severe consequences,' teases Zelenskyy-Putin meeting It's a prime midway rest stop for dignitaries, like presidents and cabinet secretaries, on the route from Washington to eastern Asia. The flight from the East Coast to the southern coast of Alaska takes roughly eight hours, about the limit for air crews before mandated rest, and a convenient, secure location to refuel. Long before air travel and a superpower summit, U.S. and Russian leaders haggled over Alaska. In 1867, Secretary of State William Seward secretly negotiated with Russian officials to buy the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million. Derided at the time as Seward's Folly, the deal worked out for the Americans. Alaska - its people, awesome landscape and enormous natural resources - joined the union in 1959. Before statehood, the Army established the base that would become Elmendorf-Richardson in 1940 during the runup to World War II. Since then, soldiers and airmen along with smaller contingents from the Navy and Marine Corps have called the base home. In all, the joint base hosts about 30,000 service members, their family members and civilian employees. Its key location - near Russia and close to Arctic resources eyed by China - has made Elmendorf-Richardson and other Alaskan military installations increasingly valuable to the Pentagon. More personnel and money have been streaming into Alaska in recent years to bolster northern defenses. The base takes part in some of the military's most intricate annual war games, featuring sophisticated weapons like the F-22 fighter. Alaska is the land of superlatives. The state is more than twice the size of Texas; its 46,000 miles of shoreline are more than the lower 48 states combined; Denali's snow-capped peak towers over the interior at more than 20,000 feet. Brown and black bears, moose and wolves, roam tundra and black spruce forests. Temperatures routinely drop to 50 degrees below zero in the interior, where Fort Wainwright sits on the edge of Fairbanks. Dim sunlight smudges skies for only a few hours in the depth of winter. More: An Alaskan army base is the epicenter of military suicides. Soldiers know why Cabin fever can be very real. In the summer, it truly is the Land of the Midnight Sun. Perpetual daylight has its downside, disrupting sleep, leading to irritability - and worse. Alaska routinely ranks among the nation's leaders in alcohol abuse and suicide. In recent years, Alaska's strategic, remote location has exposed its vulnerabilities. Suicide among soldiers spiked to alarming levels. Reporting by USA TODAY revealed a shortage of mental personnel to help them. The Army and Congress intervened, dispatching dozens of counselors and spending millions to improve living conditions for troops there. Suicide rates declined. Efforts by Chinese spies to gain access to Alaskan bases hasn't, however, USA TODAY has reported. The bases contain some of the military's top-end weaponry, sophisticated radars to track potential attacks on the homeland and missiles to intercept them. Russia, too, regularly probes America's northern flank. As recently as July, 22 the North American Aerospace Defense Command detected Russian warplanes operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone. When aircraft enter the zone, they must be identified for national security purposes. The Russian planes remained in international airspace, a tactic they employ regularly. Mildly provocative, the flights are noted by NORAD but not considered a threat. Meanwhile, global warming has thawed permafrost beneath runways and rising water levels have damaged coastal facilities requiring remediation costing tens of millions of dollars. A skeptic of climate change, Trump could view for himself its effects, including cemeteries eroded by rising sea levels disgorging coffins of flu and smallpox victims from more than a century ago. The potential release of ancient pathogens from melting permafrost has captured the Pentagon's attention, too. Alas, Alaska may have been Putin's last, best choice for a summit. His brutal, unprovoked invasion of neighboring Ukraine has made him an international pariah. Denied entry into Europe, he and Trump could not repeat their summit in Helsinki, the capital of Finland that is now a member of NATO - due mainly to the invasion. Luckily for Putin and Trump, Anchorage is a delightful city, cool in midsummer and far from the death and destruction Putin he has wrought in Ukraine.
