This is such an opportune moment because of the major NATO exercise centred on Norway, beginning this month and going into November. The U.S. has deployed, on a rotational basis, 700 forces to Norway. We didn't do that during the Cold War. We are growing increasingly concerned about the potential for Russia to demonstrate and surprise us with some capabilities that could perhaps question or jeopardize Arctic co-operation and security.
In some ways this is the puzzle, because as much as Russia very much wants to develop the Arctic economically, the last thing they should be doing is challenging or making the security picture look very dynamic, because that would in fact scare investors and potential economic activity away. It's hard to understand why they're doing this and for what purpose, but I'm growing increasingly concerned that we're seeing a robustness, and that NATO needs to develop a response. In some ways NATO is, without having the strategic discussion at the North Atlantic Council about it.
In many ways and for many years, Canada has prevented the North Atlantic Council from having a discussion about the Arctic. Those days are over. It's not about whether NATO would be useful in the Arctic. NATO is in the Arctic. It is exercising today and through the next several weeks. We have forces committed there. It is an essential strategy for reinforcing Europe, so we need to focus on this more and have a NATO capability that is able to respond to it.
We need greater transparency, confidence-building measures, exercises, and I would argue a code of conduct, not dissimilar to what we're trying to do with the Chinese in the South China Sea, to prevent accidents and mishaps. We have a good pattern of co-operation at the Arctic Coast Guard Forum and on search and rescue, and the Russians are participating in that. But on the military—the hard end, the security end—this is where I am concerned. We need a NATO response and Canada has an important role to play in that.