The Globe and Mail

The cold climes of the Arctic are fast becoming an international hot spot. Faced with melting ice floes opening up navigable waterways, tantalized by the dream of untold resource riches in the northern seabed and spurred on by a gaggle of commentators calling on countries to assert their sovereign rights in the name of their “national interests,” governments of the circumpolar region are engaging in a competitive scurry to plant flags, bolster their military presence and engage in disputatious legal wrangles.