>>937621143 (OP)b8
but we bought Alaska from Russia fair and square
also, while it has very low population density because it is huge and contains many harsh environments, it is chock full of oil, gold, timber, and fisheries, and is a major driver of economic activity
we also have a number of important military bases from which force can be projected into the Arctic if need be; Point Barrow, for example, is only about 1500 miles from the Anzhu Islands, where Russia keeps an Arctic naval flotilla