The general understanding is that, as the Arctic ice cap starts to melt further and as you get more first-year ice rather than permanent ice, the navigable route is going to be the northern route, or the Russian route, to put it bluntly. Due to the rotation of the earth, the Northwest Passage is a problem because ice builds and comes into that passage. Therefore, we want to know.
This then relates to issues surrounding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, on the Arctic continental shelf issues. This needs to be managed, with the Russians in particular, regarding how we understand our legitimate jurisdictions relative to international law.
I would also add that, as far as I understand this, the Russians have been religious in devoting or committing themselves to proper scientific research with regard to the issues of the continental shelf in the Arctic.
We have an interest, though, because nothing sits in an ocean in one place. Given the rotation of the earth—as I mentioned about the Arctic ice moving into the Northwest Passage—if you have a disaster in the Russian passage, where is that going to go? Well, it's going to move, and it's going to move to us. That's a vital area, then, where we need to co-operate with the Russians. We have common interests with them. Why wouldn't we want to exploit those?