With the prolonged absence of military threats to North America, the prime Canadian security objective is to ensure that they remain so. Meeting that objective is more a diplomatic challenge than it is a defence problem, but defence policies and military forces in North American certainly have a role in preserving this region as a cooperative security community – that is, a community of states that continues to enjoy the reliable expectation that its members will not “resort to war or military attacks to prosecute their disputes.” That happens also to be the formally affirmed expectation of the five states bordering the Arctic Ocean, where the same principle applies – preserving the Arctic as a region free of military threats and counter threats is the primary security objective. Once again, diplomacy is key, but defence policies and the operations of military forces play a major role.