On NATO, one reason why NATO is talking less about the Arctic now than was the case two years ago is that the bell-ringer was Norway. Norway kept saying that the Russians were interested in the Arctic and it was a danger for them. Since they solved the conflict with Russia in September 2010, I think, now it's less urgent and they are ready to downplay it. Canada is opposed to having NATO involved in the region. The other motivation is less important than it was before.
On February 28th, 2012. See this statement in context.