Yes.
I was in the group that had considered the possibility that perhaps we could enter a quid pro quo with the Americans. The idea was that we're never going to get the Americans to say it's an internal water, simply because of the precedent that sends out for places like the Strait of Hormuz. They simply will never do it. What many people had thought is that the Americans would be willing to at least agree not to say anything--in other words, not push us on the issue, and if we have a ship coming through trying to get through without permission, they would remain silent on it. In other words, we would still agree to disagree but they would not actively support.
On January 8, 2009, the Americans released their long-awaited Arctic policy, the first one in ten years. They made it very clear that they are not backing down on that position, nor are they interested in backing down. My discussion with state officials is that the Americans simply see that as a non-entity. I'm very much more pessimistic than I was maybe four months ago.