A Quiet Ruin

In the atlas, we are the first two facts: Russia 17,075,000; Canada 9,971,000. Square kilometres those are; together, though but about a 40th of the world’s people, we command two thirds of its northern latitudes, a sixth of its land surface—and a commensurate share of its natural resources. These outsized endowments entail outsized interests and responsibilities—among them, in our case, the stewardship of the Arctic. They are the first, natural, enduring stuff of diplomacy, bilateral and multilateral, in the biggest relationship in the world.

There is much else on the agenda, from peace on earth and the accommodation of Islam to stability and progress in Russia’s volatile neighbourhoods, from relations with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to nuclear arms control, from Arctic research to energy policy, from fighting terrorism and other international crime to enhancing world trade. The list is long. Multilaterally, Russia is omnipresent, unavoidable...