by George Ivanov

Created on: January 16, 2009   Last Updated: January 06, 2011

Should Alaska secede from the United States?

In the 1860s, Russia sold Alaska to the United States, and since then, it has been a part of the Untied States of America. Geographically, it isn't linked to the mainland, but the US government has done much to integrate Alaska with the rest of the continent and create a sense of belonging among the people who live there.

Looking at the people who live in Alaska, we see an interesting confluence of Russian and American influence combining to create a new definition for the state's culture. Much of the population remains Christian Orthodox, including the Natives who live there. The names of places and settlements, such as Vassilov, the hamlet that Sarah Palin was once a mayor of, symbolize the influence of the world's largest country. This groundwork can lay the foundation for a sentiment to arise at one point in the future, where they may wish to become a part of Russia's territory once more, or even desire an independent state for themselves.

With that in mind, however, the creation of a distinct nation is not sufficient to legitimize the creation of a state. In other words, Alaska should not secede from the United States, lest it create a trend by that action and the US comes to stand for the Untied States. The functions of a state, in the modern world, are many and varied: from providing healthcare, a social system, defence, taxation and currency mechanisms, constitute only a limited array of those functions. Accountability of government, foreign and domestic policies on many different issues are also matters that require the attention of a new state.

Surveying Alaska's current state, from economics, to population and potential for statehood, I can assert that it is not ready to declare independence and secession from the union. For one, the economy of the state is not diversified enough. Its chief export is oil, and the main customer is the United States. While an oil-based economy is highly profitable, it is also very unpredictable. The case in point is the Middle East. While countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran rake in billions from the sale of their own oil resources, a sudden collapse in the price of this commodity can be detrimental to the economies of those countries. Such is the case now, where the price of oil is hovering between 30 and 40 dollars a barrel, whereas in July of 2008 it streaked to a high of almost 150 dollars. The budgets of petroleum-exporting states are based around a forecast

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