international strait, which according to UNCLOS should enable free passage. 382 Canada however, sees it as internal waters. The USA has a vested interest in the Northwest Passage as if it is termed internal waters it may hinder the travel of the US navy in other parts of the world, and therefore the USA has to publicly disagree with one of its closest allies. Although the NWP and NSR in their current states are likely to cause conflict, the issue is the ease in which a nation could blockade the passages if it chose to do so. 383 Consequently, the NWP and NSR could be the cause of conflict from both non state and state actors.
382 Käpylä and Mikkola, p.4. 383 Gove, p.18.
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