Iceland: A postimperial sovereignty project
The historical links with imperial Denmark still have an impact on Iceland’s foreign policy and its approach to Europe in particular. This article examines the triangular relationship between Iceland, its former colonizers (Norway and Denmark) and the European Union (EU). Iceland’s political identit...
| Published in: | Cooperation and Conflict |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publications
2014
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0010836713514152 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0010836713514152 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/0010836713514152 |
| Summary: | The historical links with imperial Denmark still have an impact on Iceland’s foreign policy and its approach to Europe in particular. This article examines the triangular relationship between Iceland, its former colonizers (Norway and Denmark) and the European Union (EU). Iceland’s political identity was carved out in the course of its independence struggle from Denmark (1830–1944), based on a fundamental belief in its formal sovereignty, which still dictates Icelandic foreign relations to a great extent. In order to uphold the standard of being considered a modern Nordic welfare state, however, Iceland has an economic need to participate in the EU’s internal market, resulting in the European Economic Area agreement. Iceland’s postimperial sovereignty games are mostly played within these boundaries. To understand its position within the European project, this paper analyses how, until the economic ‘Crash of 2008’, the national identity emerging out of the colonial experience has limited Iceland’s relationship with the EU. |
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