Quote:
Originally Posted by ken0042
I can see this being a good move for both Canada and Russia. Russia sees that the US is looking to expand its presence in the Arctic. So instead of standing up to the US, they do something that as others have mentioned will force the US to back Canada's claim to the Arctic.
So Canada ends up with a stronger claim, and the Russians have fewer Americans to worry about mucking about up there.
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Pretty much, International Relations are one hell of a chess game, aren't they?
I think they are genuinely hoping for a favored claim for political reasons and optics (The "Russia is still a global giant" look), but I think the desired policy side-effect is exactly that, the US forced to back someone else's claim, rather than have two weaker claims against a strong Russian claim. Its win-win for them, since they are definitely not going after an assertive state in Canada.