President Barack Obama deserves applaud for bringing together world leaders in Anchorage this week for a US-led conference on ‘Global Leadership in the Arctic’. However, the limited focus on climate change during the summit, though certainly important, has contradicted the significance of the broader US interests and responsibilities in the Arctic region.

With the turning of ice into navigable ocean, the Arctic has become third great ocean border of the US, and has created vexing strategic challenges and extraordinary opportunities. It has led to not only climate change, but threats to national sovereignty and security, revolutions in international commerce and a ‘Klondike’-like rush for controlling huge undersea resources.

According to the estimations of the US Geological Survey, 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30% of its undiscovered natural gas is present in the Arctic. The United States is capable of becoming the leader in responsible Arctic oil exploration. It is because their main oil companies maintain the technology and have knowledge of how to responsibly tap deep-sea Arctic oil. They could set a new global standard for responsible development and emergency response.

Yet the US is hardly in the game. It has potentially allowed other countries to move in and develop these resources less safely.

Once the Arctic sea routes opens, it will cut shipping times between Asian, the US and European markets and will reduce cost of fuel and carbon emissions. But at the same time with the increase in the traffic across these routes new questions of regulation and sovereignty will arise.