Gas feeder lines at the Yamburg gas-condensate field. These pipelines
take gas from the wells to the processing plants. |
All of these examples show how raw
materials from the Arctic, where life is exceptionally tough, are
sent to somewhere else where they make possible a life of relative
comfort. Here, the Arctic plays a role in relation to the industrialised
world which is similar to that of 'third world' countries in the
tropics. Within each country with territory in the Arctic, just
as within the global economy as a whole, the Arctic regions lie
out on the edge.The entire area lies in a more or less colonial
relationship to centres of power further south, where attitudes
are formed and policies made. This is part of a pattern of unequal
development or power, in which the inhabitants of the Arctic have
very little control over what happens to their territory and their
lives. So long as the industrialised world continues to depend on
supplies of oil and other resources to maintain its high level of
consumption, the extraction of resources is likely to continue at
a destructive rate. |
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