Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T13:21:24.161Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Right of (Northwest) Passage: Toward a Responsible Canadian Arctic Sovereignty

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 May 2019

Jeremy Seth Geddert Open the ORCID record for Jeremy Seth Geddert [Opens in a new window]
Jeremy Seth Geddert*
Affiliation:
Associate Professor of Political Science, Assumption College, 500 Salisbury St., Worcester, MA 01609
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Canada has long claimed the Northwest Passage as its “internal waters,” while the United States and other countries argue it is an “international strait.” The latter “free sea” position originates in Hugo Grotius, often styled the “father of international law.” However, Grotius later qualifies his own position by granting to coastal states the right to regulate maritime traffic. Grotius's works also inspire the English School of International Relations: an “international society” approach that Canada has historically followed in its overall foreign policy. Hence, a twenty-first-century Grotian vision might suggest a compromise amenable to Canada: Canada would grant passage to conforming American vessels, thus facilitating international trade, but Canada would also gain powers of effective jurisdiction, allowing it to secure and conserve the fragile environment. Canada might thus re-envision sovereignty not as a zero-sum contest for status symbols but as the exercise of functional jurisdiction for the common good of international society.

Résumé

Le Canada revendique depuis longtemps le passage du Nord-Ouest comme faisant partie de ses « eaux intérieures », tandis que les États-Unis et d'autres pays soutiennent qu'il s'agit d'un « détroit international ». Cette dernière position de “mer libre” trouve son origine dans Hugo Grotius, souvent surnommé le “père du droit international”. Cependant, Grotius précise plus tard sa propre position en accordant aux États côtiers le droit de réglementer le trafic maritime. Les travaux de Grotius inspirent également l'English School of International Relations : une approche de « société internationale » que le Canada a historiquement suivie dans sa politique étrangère globale. Par conséquent, une vision grotienne au XXIe siècle pourrait suggérer un compromis viable : le Canada accorderait le passage à des navires américains conformes facilitant ainsi le commerce international, mais il obtiendrait également des pouvoirs de compétence efficaces, ce qui lui permettrait de protéger et de conserver cet environnement fragile. Le Canada pourrait donc ré-envisager la souveraineté non pas comme un jeu à somme nulle pour les symboles de statut, mais comme l'exercice d'une juridiction fonctionnelle pour le bien commun de la société internationale.

Keywords

Northwest Passagearctic sovereigntyGrotiusEnglish SchoolLaw of the SeaCanadian foreign policyUnited States
Type
Research Article/Étude originale
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 52 , Issue 3 , September 2019 , pp. 595 - 612
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beesley, J. A. 1971. “Rights and Responsibilities of Arctic Coastal States: The Canadian View.” Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce 3: 1–12.Google Scholar
Brett, Annabel. 2002. “Natural Right and Civil Community: The Civil Philosophy of Hugo Grotius.” Historical Journal 45 (1): 40–41.Google Scholar
Bull, Hedley. 1995. The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics. 2nd ed. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Bull, Hedley, Kingsbury, Benedict and Roberts, Adam, eds. 1990. Hugo Grotius and International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Buzan, Barry. 2014. An Introduction to the English School of International Relations. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Byers, Michael. 2006. “The Need to Defend Our New Northwest Passage.” Tyee, January 30.Google Scholar
Byers, Michael. 2010. Who Owns the Arctic? Understanding Sovereignty Disputes in the North. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre.Google Scholar
Byers, Michael and Baker, James. 2013. International Law and the Arctic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Byers, Michael and Lalonde, Suzanne. 2009. “Who Controls the Northwest Passage?” Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 42 (4): 1133–1210.Google Scholar
Calvert, Philip. 2018. “Justin Trudeau's China Challenges.” In Justin Trudeau and Canadian Foreign Policy, ed. Hillmer, Norman and Lagassé, Philippe. London: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar
Canada. Parliament. 1970. Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act. R.S.C. 1970 (1st Supp.), c.2. Ottawa: Supply and Services.Google Scholar
Canada. Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. 2009. “Northern Strategy.” Ottawa: Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.Google Scholar
Canada. Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. 2010. “Statement on Canada's Arctic Policy.” Ottawa: Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.Google Scholar
Canada. Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs. 2017. “Joint Ministerial Statement: Toward a New Arctic Policy Framework.” Ottawa: Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs. https://www.canada.ca/en/indigenous-northern-affairs/news/2017/11/joint_ministerialstatementtowardanewarcticpolicyframework.html (October 17, 2018).Google Scholar
China. State Council Information Office. 2016. “China Adheres to the Position of Settling through Negotiation the Relevant Disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.” Beijing.Google Scholar
Coates, Ken S., Lackenbauer, P. Whitney, Morrison, William and Poelzer, Greg. 2008. Arctic Front: Defending Canada in the Far North. Toronto: Thomas Allen.Google Scholar
Cooper, Andrew F. 2015. “Beyond the Middle Power Model: Canada in a Reshaping Global Order.” South African Journal of International Affairs 22 (2): 185–201.Google Scholar
Elliot-Meisel, Elizabeth B. 2015. “Understanding the Canada-United States Arctic Relationship.” In International Law and Politics of the Arctic Ocean: Essays in Honor of Donat Pharand, ed. Lalonde, Suzanne and McDorman, Ted L.. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Fisher, Matthew. 2017. “Thanks to Global Warming, China's “Snow Dragon” and U.S. Cruise Will Meet in Arctic.” National Post, August 23.Google Scholar
Geddert, Jeremy Seth. 2016. “Natural Rights and History: Hugo Grotius’ Modern Translation of Aristotle.” In Concepts of Nature: Ancient and Modern, ed. McGuire, Steven F. and Snell, R. J.. New York: Lexington.Google Scholar
Geddert, Jeremy Seth. 2017. Hugo Grotius and the Modern Theology of Freedom: Transcending Natural Rights. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Grant, Shelagh D. 2010. Polar Imperative: A History of Arctic Sovereignty in North America. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre.Google Scholar
Griffiths, Franklyn, ed. 1987. The Politics of the Northwest Passage. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press.Google Scholar
Griffiths, Franklyn, Huebert, Rob and Lackenbauer, P. Whitney. 2011. Canada and the Changing Arctic: Sovereignty, Security, and Stewardship. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.Google Scholar
Grotius, Hugo. (1603) 2006. Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty, ed. van Ittersum, Martine Julia, trans. by Gwladys L. Williams. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund.Google Scholar
Grotius, Hugo. (1614) 2001. De Imperio Summarum Potestatum Circa Sacra (On the Power of Sovereigns Concerning Religious Affairs), ed. and trans. Van Dam, Harm-Jan. Boston: Brill.Google Scholar
Grotius, Hugo. (1625) 2005. De Jure Belli ac Pacis (The Rights of War and Peace), ed. Tuck, Richard. From the edition by Jean Barbeyrac. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund.Google Scholar
Gupta, Sourabh and Roy, Ashok K.. 2014. “Between Strait and Sea.” Alaska Business Monthly, February, 72–74.Google Scholar
Headland, R. K. 2018. “Transits of the Northwest Passage to End of the 2018 Navigation Season.” Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge. October 1. https://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/resources/infosheets/northwestpassage.pdf (October 25, 2018).Google Scholar
Huebert, Rob. 2009. “Canadian Arctic Sovereignty and Security in a Transforming Circumpolar World.” Foreign Policy for Canada's Tomorrow, no. 4 (July). Canadian International Council. http://www.ontla.on.ca/library/repository/mon/27007/323481.pdf (October 17, 2018).Google Scholar
International Court of Justice. United Kingdom v. Albania, [1949] I.C.J.R. 4; I.C.G.J. 199.Google Scholar
International Court of Justice. United Kingdom v. Norway, [1951] I.C.J.R. 1164; I.C.G.J 196.Google Scholar
Keating, Tom. 2014. “The Transition in Canadian Foreign Policy through an English School Lens.” International Journal 69 (2): 168–82.Google Scholar
Kikkert, Peter. 2012. “Promoting National Interests and Fostering Cooperation: Canada and the Development of a Polar Code.” Journal of Maritime Law & Commerce 43 (3): 319–34.Google Scholar
Lajeunesse, Adam. 2017. Lock, Stock, and Icebergs: A History of Canada's Arctic Maritime Sovereignty. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Lasserre, Frédéric and Alexeeva, Olga. 2015. “Analysis of Maritime Transit Trends in the Arctic Passages.” In International Law and Politics of the Arctic Ocean: Essays in Honor of Donat Pharand, ed. Lalonde, Suzanne and McDorman, Ted L.. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Logue, John. 1982. “The Revenge of John Selden: The Draft Convention on the Law of the Sea in the Light of Hugo Grotius’ Mare Liberum.” Grotiana 3 (1): 27–56.Google Scholar
Little, Richard. 2000. “The English School's Contribution to the Study of International Relations.” European Journal of International Relations 6 (3): 395–422.Google Scholar
McConachie, Roger D. and Reid, Robert S.. 1977. “Canadian Foreign Policy and International Straits.” In Canadian Foreign Policy and the Law of the Sea, ed. Johnson, Barbara and W, Mark. Zacher. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Macfarlane, Daniel. 2014. Negotiating a River: Canada, the US, and the Creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
MacFarlane, John M. 2012. “A List of the Full Transits of the Canadian Northwest Passage 1903 to 2006.” http://nauticapedia.ca/Articles/NWP_Fulltransits.php (May 18, 2015).Google Scholar
McKinnon, J. Bruce. 1987. “Arctic Baselines: A Litore Usque ad Litus.” Canadian Bar Review 66 (4): 790–817.Google Scholar
Nolin, Mathieu. 2017. “Heated Conflict over the Northwest Passage: Is Canada's Sovereignty Melting Away?” Journal of Maritime Law & Commerce 48 (3): 341–64.Google Scholar
O'Leary, Caitlin. 2014. “The New Ice Age: The Dawn of Arctic Shipping and Canada's Fight for Sovereignty Over the Northwest Passage.” University of Miami Inter-American Law Review 46 (1): 117–34.Google Scholar
Paltiel, Jeremy. 2018. “Facing China: Canada between Fear and Hope.” International Journal 73 (3): 343–63.Google Scholar
Pharand, Donat. 1983. “Canada's Arctic Jurisdiction in International Law.” Dalhousie Law Journal 7: 315–43.Google Scholar
Pharand, Donat. 2007. “The Arctic Waters and the Northwest Passage: A Final Revisit.” Ocean Development and International Law 38: 1–69.Google Scholar
Phillips, Tom. 2016. “China Attacks International Court after South China Sea Ruling.” Guardian, July 13.Google Scholar
Rossi, Christopher R. 2017. Sovereignty and Territorial Temptation: The Grotian Tendency. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Trevor-Roper, Hugh. 1992. From Counter-Reformation to Glorious Revolution. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Tuck, Richard. 1993. Philosophy and Government 1572–1651. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
United Nations. General Assembly. 1982. Convention on the Law of the Sea. 1833 U.N.T.S. 3; 21 I.L.M. 1261.Google Scholar
United States. 2009. National Security Presidential Directive 66 and Homeland Security Presidential Directive 25. President George W. Bush. January 9.Google Scholar
United States. 2013. National Strategy for the Arctic Region. President Barack Obama. May 10.Google Scholar
Welsh, Jennifer. 2004. “Canada in the 21st Century: Beyond Dominion and Middle Power.” The Round Table 93 (376): 583–93.Google Scholar
Wight, Martin. 1992. International Theory: The Three Traditions, ed. Wight, Gabriele and Porter, Brian. London: Royal Institute of International Affairs.Google Scholar
Wolfraim, Zachary. 2014. “Canada: Revisiting the End of the ‘Middle Power.’” International Politics Reviews 2: 72–79.Google Scholar
Young, Oran R. 1987. “Arctic Shipping: An American Perspective.” In The Politics of the Northwest Passage, ed. Griffiths, Franklyn. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press.Google Scholar
Zou, Keyuan. 2005. Law of the Sea in East Asia: Issues and Prospects. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar