Alasdair Phillips-Robins and Sam Winter-Levy
In 1867, Tsar Alexander II of Russia agreed to sell the territory of Alaska to the United States for a mere $7.2 million—approximately 2 cents per acre. At the time, Secretary of State William Seward, the architect of the deal, was ridiculed for the acquisition; critics called it “Seward’s Folly.” But since geologists struck oil in the region in 1902, Alaska has provided the United States with a strategic resource that helped bankroll its rise over the 20th century.
Alaskan oil production has generated more than $180 billion in revenue for the state—a return orders of magnitude greater than the original purchase price. Meanwhile, Russia’s Alaska sale has gone down as a strategic blunder.
No comments:
Post a Comment