DOD establishes new Arctic regional center

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has established a new regional center focused on security challenges in the Arctic, according to a Pentagon announcement.

Officially known as the Ted Stevens Center for Arctic Security Studies, the center "will provide a new venue to collaborate with our allies and partners to advance shared interests for a peaceful and prosperous Arctic," the Pentagon said.

"The center will support the U.S. Interim National Security Strategic Guidance direction to work with like-minded partners and across the interagency to pool our collective strength and advance shared interests," Austin said in a statement. "It will address the need for U.S. engagement and international cooperation to strengthen the rules-based order in the region and tackle shared challenges such as climate change."

The center has not yet been assigned a location, but it was named after the former Alaska Republican senator who represented the state for 41 years.