ABSTRACT

Greenland and the International Politics of a Changing Arctic examines the international politics of semi-independent Greenland in a changing and increasingly globalised Arctic. Without sovereign statehood, but with increased geopolitical importance, independent foreign policy ambitions, and a solidified self-image as a trailblazer for Arctic indigenous peoples’ rights, Greenland is making its mark on the Arctic and is in turn affected – and empowered – by Arctic developments.

The chapters in this collection analyse how a distinct Greenlandic foreign policy identity shapes political ends and means, how relations to its parent state of Denmark is both a burden and a resource, and how Greenlandic actors use and influence regional institutional settings as well as foreign states and commercial actors to produce an increasingly independent – if not sovereign – entity with aims and ambitions for regional change in the Arctic.

This is the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of Greenland’s international relations and how they are connected to wider Arctic politics. It will be essential reading for students and scholars interested in Arctic governance and security, international relations, sovereignty, geopolitics, paradiplomacy, indigenous affairs and anyone concerned with the political future of the Arctic.

chapter |10 pages

Introduction: Greenland and the international politics of a changing Arctic

Postcolonial paradiplomacy between high and low politics

chapter 1|17 pages

Setting the scene in Nuuk

Introducing the cast of characters in Greenlandic foreign policy narratives

chapter 2|10 pages

Independence through international affairs

How foreign relations shaped Greenlandic identity before 1979

chapter 3|16 pages

Greenlandic sovereignty in practice

Uranium, independence, and foreign relations in Greenland between three logics of security

chapter 4|16 pages

The Arctic turn

How did the High North become a foreign and security policy priority for Denmark?

chapter 5|13 pages

Lightning rod

US, Greenlandic and Danish relations in the shadow of postcolonial reputations

chapter 6|15 pages

Chinese investments in Greenland

Promises and risks as seen from Nuuk, Copenhagen and Beijing

chapter 7|15 pages

The politics of economic security

Denmark, Greenland and Chinese mining investment

chapter 9|14 pages

Greenland and the Arctic Council

Subnational regions in a time of Arctic Westphalianisation 1

chapter |4 pages

Conclusion

The opportunities and challenges of Greenlandic paradiplomacy