If I may, let me turn now to the Arctic Council, which the U.S. presently chairs, and bring you up to date on what's been happening there. The Arctic Council, you might say, is a new and different animal, one that illustrates the evolving nature of international relations. It includes not just diplomats, but representatives of Arctic indigenous communities, NGOs, scientists, technical experts, and others. It is remarkably all-inclusive. The Council also reflects the new face of foreign policy in that it is a science-based organization.
Science today plays a much larger role in the making of foreign policy than it did before.
What we need to do is integrate the Arctic Council's work with that of this body, the Nordic Council of Ministers, and the European Union's Northern Dimension. Barrow is a village of some 4,500, mostly Inupiat, situated on Alaska's oil-producing North Slope. On behalf of the U.S. Government, I invite all of you to come to Barrow for that Ministerial, where we look forward to Finland taking over the chairmanship of the Council. It is clear to me that Finland will manage this task with great skill and imagination, just as it managed this Council chairmanship and its recent EU Presidency. At Barrow, we will review the work of the Arctic Council since the last Ministerial and approve some new initiatives brought to us by the Senior Arctic Officials.