The Geopolitics of Greenland and The Arctic
Creators: name: Saalbach, Klaus
Publisher: name: Universität Osnabrück
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Geopolitics
subject: Arctic
subject: Greenland
subject: 320 - Politik
subject: 333.7 - Natürliche Ressourcen, Energie und Umwelt
subject: 355 - Militär

description: The paper analyzes the geopolitics of the Arctic which is dominated by military and security aspects, the climate change with new shipping routes, significant resources, and by Greenland with its independence debate. Eight Arctic States have territory in the Arctic Circle: United States (Alaska), Russia, Canada, Iceland, Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat) is the world’s largest island with 2,186,000 square kilometers and approximately 56,000 inhabitants. Greenland is geologically a part of North America, but belongs politically to Europe. It is the largest Arctic landmass (as the North Pole consists of ice only) and its location between Canada and Russia explains its geostrategic importance. After the end of the cold war, an institutional framework was established for the Arctic Region; the Arctic Council is the most important with the eight Arctic States, observer states and non-governmental organizations, in particular Inuit organizations like the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC). In addition, security fora were established, but all organizations are affected or even paralyzed after the suspension of Russia since 2022. The melting of ice due to the global warming opens three potential shipping routes in the North, the Northern Sea Route (NSR, Northeast Passage) around northern Russia, the Northwest Passage (NWP) through the Canadian Arctic Islands and the Central Sea Route (Transpolar Sea Route TSR). Meanwhile, Russia and China are more engaged and advancing in the Arctic region which is a major challenge for the United States of America. Various Arctic States made territorial claims in the Arctic Region based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In February 2023, the responsible Nations Commission on the Limit of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) recommended to accept Russia’s claims for a total of 1.7 million km² including the North Pole area, despite competing claims of Canda and Denmark (Greenland) which is a major strategic gain for Russia. Since World War 2, the United States are present in Greenland with a large military base which is halfway between New York and Moscow. A new security challenge for the Arctic geopolitics is China which has defined itself as a Near Arctic State in 2018 and which has built several research and satellite stations in Scandinavia. China is massively engaged in Greenlandic economy. Greenland’s independence debate has reached a critical stage where Denmark and the European Union at risk to lose their status as Arctic actors. Currently, the Greenlandic economy is heavily dependent from fishing and from Danish subsidies which cover around 20% of the state income. The utilization of its rich resources could bring Greenland the necessary income to become independent or at least to diversify its economy. On the other hand, the Greenlanders fear an uncontrolled influx of foreign workers and the destruction of their environment and of the fishery. Denmark could be replaced by another actor who would be willing to do the necessary investments. In particular, the United States could take over Denmark’s subsidies and make a major strategic gain in North America. In Greenland, a Free Association is discussed as possible solution, something which was successfully implemented by several Pacific Island States already. For these reasons, the European Union must generally show a much stronger engagement in Greenland and the Arctic to maintain its presence.