Opinio Juris

Russia continues to keep the pressure on Canada in the race to claim rights over the seabed underneath the Arctic Sea.

THE battle for "ownership" of polar oil reserves has intensified with Russia sending a fleet of nuclear-powered ice-breakers into the Arctic. It has reinforced fears that Moscow intends to unlawfully annex a vast portion of the ice-covered Arctic. Scientists believe up to 10 billion tonnes of gas and oil could lie under the region.

In response, Canada is going to spend $C40 Million to build a fleet of patrol boats. That doesn't sound very threatening, but the normally laid-back Canadians seem pretty juiced up about their rights in the Arctic. Or are they?

There is a widely accepted international legal regime to which both Canada and Russia belong -- the Convention on the Law of the Sea — that should resolve this dispute. But what if there really is 10 billion tons of oil and natural gas at stake? Will Russia or even law-abiding Canada be able to stick to that regime. An interesting test of the pull of law versus interests...