International Law And The Arctic

"Climate change and rising oil prices have thrust the Arctic to the top of the foreign policy agenda and raised difficult issues of sovereignty, security and environmental protection. Improved access for shipping and resource development is leading to new international rules on safety, pollution prevention and emergency response. Around the Arctic, maritime boundary disputes are being negotiated and resolved, and new international institutions, such as the Arctic Council, are mediating deep-rooted tensions between Russia and NATO and between nation states and indigenous peoples. International Law and the Arctic explains these developments and reveals a strong trend towards international cooperation and law-making. It thus contradicts the widespread misconception that the Arctic is an unregulated zone of potential conflict"-- "During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union squared off across the Arctic Ocean. Nuclear submarines prowled under the ice while long-range bombers patrolled high overhead. A more peaceful and cooperative approach emerged in 1990 when the two superpowers negotiated a maritime boundary in the Bering Sea, Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea. In 1996, the eight Arctic countries - the United States, Russia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland - created the Arctic Council as an intergovernmental forum for discussing issues other than those of "military security." At the same time, Russia accepted Western assistance with the decommissioning and disposal of Soviet-era nuclear reactors and warheads"--