Publikationer

Research | Forskning - peer review

The management of foreign and security policy within the Kingdom of Denmark has continually undergone a series of changes in response to shifting great-power dynamics and structural conditions. Not least, Kalaallit Nunaat’s Home Rule Government and later Self-Government has attained increased formal… The management of foreign and security policy within the Kingdom of Denmark has continually undergone a series of changes in response to shifting great-power dynamics and structural conditions. Not least, Kalaallit Nunaat’s Home Rule Government and later Self-Government has attained increased formal and substantive authority over aspects of foreign policy, as well as a distinct influence on the Realm’s security policy in the Arctic. Both the evolving geopolitical environment and the internal reconfigurations of the Realm generate new strategic challenges for the Kingdom as a whole, for its individual constituent parts, and for external powers. In this context, understanding Kalaallit Nunaat as a security-policy actor becomes essential. This chapter first outlines the formal frameworks that constitute the Self-Government as an actor, along with the historical developments that produced them. It then characterizes Kalaallit Nunaat’s foreign-policy identity and the central goals and interests pursued on that basis. Finally, it examines the information and decision-making structures between Denmark and Kalaallit Nunaat and within the Self-Government, shaping how these goals and interests are pursued both proactively and reactively in practice. The chapter concludes by discussing how the boundary between “security policy,” on the one hand, and “ordinary” foreign policy withing legislative areas taken home by Kalaallit Nunaat on the other, emerges as the central challenge for both the realization of Kalaallit Nunaat’s long-term ambition for further self-determination and for its internal decision-making structures. Læs mere

Research | Forskning - peer review

This article examines the conceptualization of nation-building in Greenland, challenging conventional views on sovereignty and suggesting an imminent emergence of an alternate governance model in the Arctic region. Drawing on the decoloniality perspective, we explore the Inuit myth, which suggests a… This article examines the conceptualization of nation-building in Greenland, challenging conventional views on sovereignty and suggesting an imminent emergence of an alternate governance model in the Arctic region. Drawing on the decoloniality perspective, we explore the Inuit myth, which suggests a unique connection of the Inuit to the Arctic environment and asserts their status as natural stewards of the region with special rights based on their cultural and political identity. We argue that this understanding of sovereignty has important implications not only for its departure from conventional Western notions of state formation but also for its potential to create alternative governance structures that do not reinforce existing political hegemonies from the “West”. We further analyze how the legacy of colonialism in Greenland has impacted power and gender relations in the region and has fueled a distinctive sense of nationalism that differs from those seen in the West. The article discusses how the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) is playing a major role in promoting an alternative political legitimacy model against the conventional approach of nation-building. We note that the ICC depends on the maintenance of political myths which have evolved over time. We conclude by suggesting that conventional perspectives on state formation must be revised to incorporate the historical experiences and knowledge of Indigenous peoples, and that further exploration of alternative governance structures is needed. Læs mere