By Mikael Hertig, M. of Sci. Pol.

 

 

 

 

 

Initially, the opening of the new seaways north of the continents has attracted increasing attention. But the Illullisat Declaration’s mantra of peaceful coexistence in every possible area is more or less shot down. Both Russia and the US will extract oil despite criticism. Russia is stocking up with armored icebreakers, bases and submarines. Tensions are on the rise,  China is hardly present in the military, but is focusing more on economic infiltration in the area.

The geographical value of Greenland and Thulebase is mentioned partly by us in the West and partly as the radar and partly as the “missile shield”. Perhaps it is a somewhat overlooked fact that missiles can partly protect North America and partly can be used for sending missiles against Russia and North Korea.

As long as Greenland is  perceived as territory without regard to the Greenlandic population, it is partly about military strategic location, raw materials / mining and transport routes.  In that situation, Greenland has not developed its own views yet, but most followed and to some extent so far found itself in Danish interest.

Looking at the supply routes, the Danish-Greenlandic relationship is far from perfect. When a Dane comes to Nuuk, the Danish-speaking Greenlanders very funny use the term “fly fresh” partly as a claim to  the expensive cucumbers (brought in by flight) , and partly about Danes who do not understand much of anything of Greenlandic culture. The point is that cultural empathy is a geographically dependent discipline.

The distance to Denmark means that the supply roads are threatened in war situations, as we saw it during World War II. Greenland is located on the North American continental shelf, close to Canada, which also to some extent protects the central United States.

 

 

Canada’s geographical location should play a greater role in Danish geopolitics.

 

It is typical of a colonialist approach to Greenland that the interests of the population are ignored or under-prioritized over other considerations. Understanding is a journey into somebody else’s land. It can be stated that the less colonialist the Danish government wants to act within the Kingdom of Denmark (Denmark, Greenland, The Faroe Islands) the more emphasis it should put on supporting not only current Greenlandic wishes, but also Greenland in developing policies in Greenlandic interest.

The Greenlandic population is Inuit, as are the Inuit people in Canada and Alaska. There is therefore a great cultural geographic and political interest in Greenland, in addition to its participation in the ICC at the political level, coordinating its security and foreign policy development in cooperation with Canada.