INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Arctic Council was established in 1996 to deal with issues like the environment and areas of international cooperation, and its mandate
explicitly excludes military security
In addition to the countries bordering the Arctic, the Council also includes six organizations representing the indigenous peoples of the
region and 13 observer countries.Russia has steadily beefed up its military presence in the Arctic in recent years, reopening and
modernizing several bases and airfields abandoned since the end of the Soviet era.Russia makes up around 45% of the geographical Arctic.
