Editor:
Donald R. Rothwell; Evan T. Bloom; Suzanne Lalonde; Jeffrey McGee; Madison Durham
Year:
2025
Subjects:
Arctic; Law; Greenland; Self-government
Place of publication:
Cheltenham
Country of publication:
UK
Host publication title:
Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Polar Law
Volume:
Law 2025
Publication house:
Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN number:
9781035300105
Through the methodological approaches of case studies and process tracing analysis, the PhD thesis examines how relations between the United States (U.S.) (a superpower) and Greenland (portrayed in the analysis as a small State-like polity) affects Greenland’s self-determination in times of increase…
Through the methodological approaches of case studies and process tracing analysis, the PhD thesis examines how relations between the United States (U.S.) (a superpower) and Greenland (portrayed in the analysis as a small State-like polity) affects Greenland’s self-determination in times of increased international focus and tension in the Arctic. Employing Putnam’s two-level game theory (1998), and action space theories (Mouritzen 2006, Petersen 2005), the three analytical articles of the thesis conclude that Greenland’s action space is ambiguous: Greenland has widened its action space in relation to Denmark through deliberate, direct negotiations with the U.S., while the action space is delimited by the greater overall geopolitical conditions affecting the U.S. interests in Greenland, as they change due to the homeland security interests of the U.S.
The thesis examines how and when Greenland’s action space is widened or limited by external and internal factors in the trilateral Greenland-Denmark-U.S. relationship. The analysis furthermore discusses how the three parties engage in a new form of interlocking, two-level game, where Greenland and the U.S. engages more directly as opposed to Greenland formerly engaging Denmark from a subnational position. In the interlocking two-level game, Greenland is positioned equally to Denmark and the U.S., and by navigating well-known incentives for bargaining for win-sets, the three parties interlock each other in a new form of two-level game. This happens as each of their interests at level one (international negotiations) overlap, while each fulfils the interests of their constituents at level two (domestic level), making it possible to sign agreements.
The thesis analyzes the increasingly direct cooperation and relationship between Greenland and the U.S., carved out as Greenland has demanded a greater say towards Denmark on foreign policy, security and defense affairs. The thesis analysis is based on case studies of events taking place from 2014 to 2021, where all three actors are at play in different ways. The analysis employs a rationalist theoretic approach to negotiations between Greenland and the U.S., and in some cases between Greenland, the U.S. and Denmark. The thesis includes a constructivist backdrop in the form of two chapters laying out the historical relationships between Greenland and Denmark, and between Greenland and the U.S. The first background chapter establishes the norms, roles and legitimacy of Greenland as an independent actor, while the second background chapter analyzes the relationship seen through the lens of U.S. securitization acts towards Greenland during the past two centuries.
The empirical as well as theoretical findings of the thesis contribute to a better understanding of how Greenland has navigated its action space in times of increased geopolitical tension in the Arctic. It provides insight into the decision-making processes in Greenland’s engagements with the U.S. and Denmark, including the thinking behind its decisions and political aspirations. The process tracing analysis leads to a causal graph displaying the steps needed for Greenland to engage more directly and bilaterally with the U.S., but the question of Denmark’s involvement is a paradox in this new relationship because the need for Denmark’s involvement is viewed differently by the parties involved from case to case. The thesis concludes that Greenland is balancing a thin line of self-determination by testing its action space, and that Denmark, sometimes deliberately, sometimes not, supports Greenland’s wider room for maneuverings.
The thesis includes a discussion of how this analysis contributes to a decolonial approach to International Relations (IR) studies by employing an understanding of Greenland acting as a State-like polity, engaging in negotiations analyzed with a rationalist approach that previously has been applied to sovereign States. It furthermore includes an outlook beyond the timeframe of the study, based on the expressions of U.S. geopolitical interests in Greenland taking place as the thesis was finalized in the spring of 2025.
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Year:
2025
Subjects:
Greenland; U.S.; Action space; Two-level game theory; Self-determination
Place of publication:
Nuuk
Country of publication:
Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland)
Publication house:
Ilisimatusarfik
Forud for Arktisk Råds tilblivelse i 1996 foregik der et omfattende arbejde mellem staterne, og ikke mindst af de arktiske oprindelige folk. Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), som repræsenterer Inuit i Kalaallit Nunaat (Grønland), Canada, Alaska og Chukotka (Rusland), spillede en central rolle i kampe…
Forud for Arktisk Råds tilblivelse i 1996 foregik der et omfattende arbejde mellem staterne, og ikke mindst af de arktiske oprindelige folk. Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), som repræsenterer Inuit i Kalaallit Nunaat (Grønland), Canada, Alaska og Chukotka (Rusland), spillede en central rolle i kampen for, at Arktisk Råd kom til at inkludere oprindelige folk ved bordet. ICC’s arkiver giver et grundigt indblik drøftelserne internt i ICC, og mellem staterne og de andre oprindelige folk. Arktisk Råds unikke struktur med otte stater og seks oprindelige folks organisationer siddende om bordet, fuldt ud deltagende i alle beslutningsprocesser blev således udviklet gennem års forhandlinger. ICC og de andre oprindelige folks organisationer har fortsat deres aktive bidrag gennem de seneste års krise i Arktisk Råd, og peger på styrkelsen af oprindelige folks deltagelse som en af nøglerne til et fortsat aktivt Arktisk Råd, til gavn for alle arktiske folk.
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Editor:
Marc Jacobsen; Svein Vigeland Rottem
Year:
2025
Subjects:
Arktis; Oprindelige folk; Arktisk Råd; Arktisk samarbejde; Arktisk ledelse; Arctic; Indigenous peoples; Arctic Council; Arctic cooperation; Arctic governance
Title of journal:
Internasjonal Politikk
Volume of journal:
Vol 83
Number of journal:
1
Publisher:
Cappelen Damm AS
Place of publication:
Oslo
Country of publication:
Norge
DOI number:
https://doi.org/10.23865/intpol.v83.7210
Editor:
Marc Jacobsen; Ulrik Pram Gad; Ole Wæver
Year:
2024
Subjects:
Arctic; Securitization; Greenland; US
Host publication title:
Greenland in Arctic Security (De)securitization Dynamics under Climatic Thaw and Geopolitical Freeze
Publication house:
University of Michigan Press
ISBN number:
0472076701, 9780472076703
Arctic Indigenous Peoples have, through their own persistence, advanced the development of the Western European legal norms in a system that once facilitated their colonisation. The fiftieth anniversary of the Arctic Peoples’ Conference took place in 2023. The occasion was marked with another Confer…
Arctic Indigenous Peoples have, through their own persistence, advanced the development of the Western European legal norms in a system that once facilitated their colonisation. The fiftieth anniversary of the Arctic Peoples’ Conference took place in 2023. The occasion was marked with another Conference, this time in Ilulissat, Greenland. It was a moment to reflect on the achievements of Arctic Indigenous Peoples, to build upon the 1973 resolutions and to address contemporary challenges. The resultant Joint Statement addresses the need for enhanced engagement in the forums of international law, intergenerational justice, intersecting rights to wellbeing, land, water and natural resources, and to address the risks posed by climate change and colonialism.
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Editor:
Zuzanna Godzimirska ; William Hamilton Byrne
Year:
2024
Subjects:
Arctic; Indigenous peoples; International law
Title of journal:
Nordic Journal of International Law
Volume of journal:
Volume 93
Number of journal:
1
Publisher:
Brill
ISSN number:
0902-7351
As a political focal point, the Pituffik Space Base (“Pituffik”) has played a decisive role in deepening relations between Greenland and the United States. To shed light upon these relations, both between the two internally and with regard to Denmark, this article analyses the 2020 negotiations rega…
As a political focal point, the Pituffik Space Base (“Pituffik”) has played a decisive role in deepening relations between Greenland and the United States. To shed light upon these relations, both between the two internally and with regard to Denmark, this article analyses the 2020 negotiations regarding Pituffik and the positions of the three parties in both the final agreement and the process of negotiation. The theoretical framework of the analysis is an interlocked two-level game analysis following Putnam (1988); the study is based upon 12 interviews with key figures, media coverage, and on the negotiated agreements themselves. The article argues that Greenland and the United States, although being an odd couple as a small state-like self-governing nation and a global superpower, conducted a new, interlocking two-level game, reaching win-sets and common interests while changing the way the parties negotiate and sign agreements. Thus, the article concludes that the 2020 negotiations about the base inaugurate a change in the overall relationship by positioning Greenland in a new and more direct relationship with the United States.
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Year:
2024
Subjects:
Two-level game analysis; Base politics; Arctic; Pituffik; Putnam; Greenland; U.S.; Denmark
Title of journal:
Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies
Volume of journal:
7 (1)
Number of journal:
7 (1)
DOI number:
https://doi.org/10.31374/sjms.208
The Arctic is directly affected by the interaction of two ongoing global crises: climate change and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. With its temperatures rising four times faster than the global average, the Arctic is facing dramatic environmental consequences. Meanwhile, retreating sea…
The Arctic is directly affected by the interaction of two ongoing global crises: climate change and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. With its temperatures rising four times faster than the global average, the Arctic is facing dramatic environmental consequences. Meanwhile, retreating sea ice has led to increased economic interest in the Arctic and its growing geopolitical importance. Thus, understanding and managing the global and local implications of environmental change in this region requires urgent scientific and diplomatic collaboration.
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Author:
Kai Kornhuber; Kira Vinke; Evan T. Bloom; Loyle Campbell; Volker Rachold; Sara Olsvig; Dana Schirwon
Year:
2023
Subjects:
Arctic politics; Geopolitics; Indigenous Peoples
Place of publication:
Berlin
Country of publication:
Germany
Volume:
DGAP Report No. 2, February 8, 2023, 19 pp.
Publication house:
German Council of Foreign Relations
ISBN number:
2198-5936
Author:
Lassi Heininen; Sara Olsvig; Justin Barnes; Heather Exner-Pirot
Editor:
Lassi Heininen; Justin Barnes; Heather Exner-Pirot
Year:
2023
Subjects:
Arctic; Social science; Research ethics; Indigenous peoples; Indigenous knowledge
Title of journal:
Arctic Yearbook
Volume of journal:
2023
Publisher:
Thematic Network on Geopolitics and Security of the University of the Arctic