The Inconvenience of Thawing Ice for Canada-U.S. Relationsin the Arctic: Rethinking Bilateral Cooperation in a "Different" North.

While the melting ice in the Great North seems to suggest possible future development of the North American Arctic in relation to potential new shipping routes, the extraction of oil and natural gas and the growth of tourism; it also brings with it new inconvenient realities for the governments of both Canada and the United States. Both Ottawa and Washington have been forced to confront a growing list of concerns brought about by an increasingly internationalized Arctic. For over forty years now, the United States and Canada have established extensive bilateral cooperation in the region by avoiding the unresolved question of who controls the waters of the Northwest Passage and the Canadian Archipelago. Now with the reality of polar warming this question can no longer be avoided. The paper raises the question of whether the existing character of U.S.-Canadian relations will be significantly altered by the melting of Arctic ice. The North is "different" today and will continue to change in the years to come. Accordingly, it seems to be an appropriate time for the two countries to carefully consider their individual and joint interests in the Arctic as they relate to issues of security, environmental protection, scientific research and social inquiry. It may be an appropriate time to develop a renewed Canadian-U.S. common strategy in the North. Today, the inconvenience brought about by the melting of polar ice might actually form the basis for resolving outstanding issues between the two countries. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]