Greenland and the International Politics of a Changing Arctic: Postcolonial Paradiplomacy Between High and Low Politics

177 Pages·2017·11.25 MB·English

by  Kristian Soby Kristensen

Greenland and the International Politics
of a Changing Arctic
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.
Kristian Søby Kristensen is Deputy Director and Senior Researcher at the Center
for Military Studies, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen.
With a background in international relations, his academic interests are war and
strategy, Arctic politics, Danish and European security and defence policy as well
as issues of public safety and security.
Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political
Science and Public Management at the University of Southern Denmark, where
he is affiliated to the Center for War Studies. He holds a PhD in international
relations (LSE) and has been affiliated to Columbia University and CSIS. His
research interests include European security, Arctic politics, Danish foreign and
security policy, and civil–military relations.
Routledge Research in Polar Regions
Series Edited by Timothy Heleniak
The Routledge series Research in Polar Regions seeks to include research and
policy debates about trends and events taking place in two important world
regions: the Arctic and Antarctic. Previously neglected periphery regions, with
climate change, resource development and shifting geopolitics, these regions
are becoming increasingly crucial to happenings outside these regions. At the
same time, the economies, societies and natural environments of the Arctic are
undergoing rapid change. This series seeks to draw upon fieldwork, satellite
observations, archival studies and other research methods which inform about
crucial developments in the polar regions. It is interdisciplinary, drawing on the
work from the social sciences and humanities, bringing together cutting-edge
research in the polar regions with the policy implications.
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com/Routledge-
Research-in-Polar-Regions/book-series/RRPS
Recently published titles:
New Mobilities and Social Changes in Russia’s Arctic Regions
Edited by Marlene Laruelle
Climate, Society and Subsurface Politics in Greenland
Under the Great Ice
Mark Nuttall
Greenland and the International Politics of a Changing Arctic
Postcolonial Paradiplomacy between High and Low Politics
Edited by Kristian Søby Kristensen and Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen
Greenland and the
International Politics of a
Changing Arctic
Postcolonial Paradiplomacy between High
and Low Politics
Edited by Kristian Søby Kristensen and
Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 selection and editorial matter, Kristian Søby Kristensen and Jon
Rahbek-Clemmensen; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Kristian Søby Kristensen and Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen to be
identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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without intent to infringe.
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ISBN: 978-1-138-06109-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-16264-5 (ebk)
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Contents
List of figures vii
Notes on contributors viii
Acknowledgements x
Introduction: Greenland and the international politics of a
changing Arctic: postcolonial paradiplomacy between high and
low politics 1
KrISTIAn Søby KrISTEnSEn AnD Jon rAHbEK-CLEMMEnSEn
1 Setting the scene in Nuuk: introducing the cast of characters in
Greenlandic foreign policy narratives 11
MARC JACOBSEN AND ULRIK PRAM GAD
2 Independence through international affairs: how foreign
relations shaped Greenlandic identity before 1979 28
JEnS HEInrICH
3 Greenlandic sovereignty in practice: Uranium, independence, and
foreign relations in Greenland between three logics of security 38
KrISTIAn Søby KrISTEnSEn AnD Jon rAHbEK-CLEMMEnSEn
4 The Arctic turn: how did the High north become a foreign and
security policy priority for Denmark? 54
Jon rAHbEK-CLEMMEnSEn
5 Lightning rod: US, Greenlandic and Danish relations in the
shadow of postcolonial reputations 70
MIKKEL RUNGE OLESEN
vi Contents
6 Chinese investments in Greenland: promises and risks as seen
from Nuuk, Copenhagen and Beijing 83
CAMILLA T. N. SøRENSEN
7 The politics of economic security: Denmark, Greenland and
Chinese mining investment 98
KEvIN FOLEY
8 The divergent scalar strategies of the Greenlandic government
and the Inuit Circumpolar Council 113
HAnnES GErHArDT
9 Greenland and the Arctic Council: subnational regions in a time
of Arctic Westphalianisation 125
InUUTEq HoLM oLSEn AnD JESSICA M. SHADIAn
10 Materialising Greenland within a critical Arctic geopolitics 139
KLAUS DODDS AND MARK NUTTALL
Conclusion: the opportunities and challenges of Greenlandic
paradiplomacy 155
KrISTIAn Søby KrISTEnSEn AnD Jon rAHbEK-CLEMMEnSEn
Index 159
Figures
4.1 Use of terms in Danish Defence Agreements, including appendices
(1999–2012) 57
4.2 Use of terms in Danish Defence Commission Reports, excluding
appendices (1989–2009) 57
4.3 Use of terms in DDIS Intelligence risk Assessments (2004–2014) 65
7.1 China import iron ore fines 62% FE spot price (CFr Tianjin port),
US dollars per dry metric ton (2005–2015) 99
Contributors
Klaus Dodds is Professor of Geopolitics at royal Holloway, University of
London, UK and his research interests include geopolitics, security and the
governance of the polar regions. He is co-author with Mark nuttall of The
Scramble for the Poles (Polity 2016) and co-editor of Handbook on the Politics
of Antarctica (Edward Elgar 2017).
Kevin Foley is a PhD student in the Department of Government at Cornell
University, USA. His research interests include the role of ideas and political
rhetoric in the foreign and security policy of advanced democracies and the
politics of China and southeast Asia.
Ulrik Pram Gad is Associate Professor at Aalborg University, Denmark.
He directs a project on the Politics of Sustainability in the Arctic. Recent
publications include National Identity Politics and Postcolonial Sovereignty
Games (Museum Tusculanums Forlag 2016) and a special issue of Security
Dialogue on ‘The politics of securitization’ (with K.L. Petersen).
Hannes Gerhardt is Associate Professor of Geography at the University of
West Georgia, USA. His research focuses on political geographic imaginaries,
particularly as they pertain to the spatial ordering of political power, capitalism,
and alternatives to capitalism.
Jens Heinrich holds a PhD in history from the University of Greenland
(Ilisimatusarfik). The former vice president of the Greenland reconciliation
Commission, he currently works as a political consultant for the Inuit
Ataqatigiit party in the Danish Parliament. His academic work has focused
on the historical development of Greenland and the relationship between
Greenland and Denmark.
Contributors ix
Marc Jacobsen is a PhD student at the Department of Political Science, University
of Copenhagen. Denmark. His main research interest is how Denmark and
Greenland use the Arctic to discursively position themselves internationally.
Inuuteq Holm Olsen is First Minister Plenipotentiary and Head of representation
for Greenland at the Danish Embassy in Washington, DC. An experienced
diplomat, he has been Greenlandic Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Senior Advisor in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He holds an M.A. in
international affairs from George Washington University, USA.
Kristian Søby Kristensen is Deputy Director and Senior Researcher at the
Center for Military Studies, Department of Political Science, University of
Copenhagen, Denmark. His research interests include nATo, Western strategy
and security, Danish defence, security and foreign policy, resilience, Arctic
governance and security.
Mark Nuttall is Professor and Henry Marshall Tory Chair of Anthropology at the
University of Alberta, Canada. He also holds a visiting position as Professor
of Climate and Society at the University of Greenland and Greenland Institute
of Natural Resources. Much of his current research focuses on climate change,
extractive industries and human–environment relations in Greenland.
Mikkel Runge Olesen is a senior researcher in the Foreign Policy Unit at the
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS). His research interests include
Danish foreign and security policy, transatlantic relations, and Arctic politics.
Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political
Science and Public Management at the University of Southern Denmark,
where he is also affiliated to the Center for War Studies. His research interests
include European security, Arctic politics, Danish foreign and security policy,
and civil-military relations.
Jessica M. Shadian is Nansen Professor at the University of Akureyri, Iceland
and Senior Fellow at the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International
History, Toronto, Canada. Her research focuses on Arctic resource governance
and law, Inuit governance, the role of the EU in Arctic affairs, and the politics
of Arctic science.
Camilla T. N. Sørensen is Assistant Professor at the Institute for Strategy at
the royal Danish Defence College, Denmark. Her research interests include
Chinese foreign and security policy, East Asian security, Arctic politics, and
Danish foreign and security policy.