For the first time, America has an Arctic ambassador, and he’s Alaskan

Michael Sfraga astatine his March 7, 2024 confirmation proceeding earlier nan Senate Foreign Relations Committee. (Senate video screenshot)

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Michael Sfraga of Fairbanks to beryllium nan nation’s first ambassador-at-large for nan Arctic.

The ballot was 55-36, pinch 9 Republicans joining Democrats to ballot yes. 

Sen. Lisa Murkowski was nan main advocator for creating nan ambassador position and Sfraga’s biggest champion successful nan Senate.

“Mike is astir apt nan astir recognized go-to Arctic master that we have, not conscionable successful Alaska, but astir nan country,” she said, extracurricular nan Senate enclosure earlier nan vote. “I spell to a batch of Arctic convenings. Mike Sfraga is location astatine each of them.”

His expertise extends to Arctic research, argumentation and nationalist security, she said. He’s successful Helsinki now for a information convention and Murkowski said he’ll be different successful Warsaw adjacent week.

Sfraga’s recreation was astatine nan guidelines of why nan apical Republican connected nan Senate Foreign Relations Committee opposed him. Sen. James Risch of Idaho said Sfraga didn’t disclose to nan committee each his recreation to Russia. Risch besides based on that Sfraga was excessively trusting of nan overseas officials and scholars he met astatine conferences and done his activity astatine nan University of Alaska Fairbanks, particularly those from Russia and China.

“I really deliberation that he is naive astatine best, arsenic acold arsenic dealing pinch Russia and China,” Risch said connected nan Senate floor. “And successful his defense, nan full world community, for that matter, shares this naivety erstwhile compared to our nationalist information agencies.”

Murkowski disagrees pinch that assessment.

“He has been very clear astir making judge that U.S. interests successful nan Arctic are protected and defended — against Russia, against China and anybody other that would would encroach connected our sovereignty,” she said.

She besides said he didn’t intentionally clasp thing backmost from nan committee but thought nan sheet expected conscionable a database of world conferences wherever he gave a presentation. When nan Senate committee asked for a fuller list, he complied. Then he searched his records and recovered much trips and conferences to show nan committee about.

President Biden created nan Arctic ambassador-at-large position successful 2022, elevating what had been called an Arctic co-ordinator. Ambassadors-at-large aren’t dispatched to a peculiar state and typically are assigned to a world issue, for illustration nan at-large ambassadors for belief state and world criminal justice.

Sen. Dan Sullivan did not ballot connected nan Sfraga confirmation, but he praised nan information past year. A unit personnel said Sullivan was portion of a Senate delegation this week to nan United Nations.