While I’m taking pot shots at traditional media outlets (see below), I’ll second this important post by Betsy Baker, which I found via TWN reader Caitlyn Antrim’s invaluable Ocean Law Daily. The writer apparently just returned from her trip on the Coast Guard Icebreaker Healy and was as dismayed as I was to read this New York Times editorial, which gives readers the impression that five hostile nations are staring down gun barrels at each other across the Arctic Circle.
In fact, what’s currently happening is these five countries — Russia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, and the United States — are using legal means to advance their interests both aggressively and fairly. All are committed to the rule of law in the Arctic, with America’s absence from the Law of the Sea Convention the only gap in a universally recognized and respected legal regime.
— Scott Paul
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