"Breaking the Ice"

As international politics touches icy waters (I mean Canada’s Arctic Policy) things are warming up and not just because of global warming, but because of diplomatic initiatives.

As the Ottawa Citizen article (October 27,2009) “Breaking the Ice” noted, lawyers from the ministries of five Arctic Ocean coastal countries (Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, USA) met in September to co-ordinate a proposal for divvying up the arctic seabed.

Coastal states can claim sovereign rights to the seabed beyond the 200 nautical mile mark from the shore if the area is a prolongation of the continental shelf. Negotiations would prevent overlaps between claimants which would need to be resolved by adjudication, negotiation, or otherwise. They could create conflict, as the desire for land has been a source of conflict as old as the world. The land now up for grabs is energy rich seabeds. Let’s hope diplomacy prevails because Canada’s chances in an aggressive conflict over arctic seabed would probably not be successful given out military versus that of the USA and Russia.

Diplomacy is a preferable route for resolving international conflict whenever and wherever possible. A resolution negotiated sooner than later is also in Canada’s interest as the ice packed Northwest Passage is soon to be free sailing and another reason for our sovereign claim melting away.