Very briefly, I think the only way forward with regard to nuclear-weapons-free zones in the Arctic is in taking an incremental approach. It is essential to recognize that the Arctic Ocean is one of the most heavily nuclearized places on earth, because of the Russian northern fleet and the U.S. navy's presence to monitor and track Russian nuclear submarines. Murmansk is north of the Arctic Circle.
So, in reality, getting the Russians and the Americans to agree on a nuclear-weapon-free zone for the Arctic is probably the last thing we'll do before we totally denuclearize the planet.
But there are important incremental steps. The one I would point to as most achievable is a recommendation that was put forward by our colleague, Franklyn Griffiths, at the University of Toronto three decades ago. That was to seize on the fact that the surface of the Arctic Ocean is currently demilitarized. Because of the ice cover, the shifting, moving ice, and the very inclement weather conditions and total darkness, we don't have surface naval vessels in the central Arctic Ocean. This would be an opportunity for us to get ahead of the melting ice and say, “Let's simply do an agreement to maintain the central Arctic Ocean, the surface, as demilitarized.” That would be step one.
The key with nuclear-weapons-free zones and other issues of this matter is to always pick the low-hanging fruit first. This is there as low-hanging fruit, but it won't remain there for very long, because as that ice melts and all those fishing trawlers move in and everything else, there will be a move of surface naval assets to follow them. We can manage those fisheries without having nuclear-powered destroyers chasing those fishing trawlers. Let's get ahead of that curve.