Introduction:Greenland and the International Politics of a Changing Arctic: Postcolonial Paradiplomacy between High and Low Politics

• Main Authors: Kristensen, Kristian S., Rahbek-Clemmensen, Jon
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2018
• Subjects: Arctic; Greenland; Ilulissat; Lent; greenlandic; Ilulissat Declaration; inuit
• Online Access: https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/da/publications/f661bf85-7bad-445d-8560-9c463359a8ef; https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315162645-1; https://www.routledge.com/Greenland-and-the-International-Politics-of-a-Changing-Arctic-Postcolonial/Kristensen-Rahbek-Clemmensen/p/book/9781138061095

The standard story of the Ilulissat Declaration is essentially about state power. It was states that had the influence and the ambition to take the lead in instituting an order that benefitted themselves at the expense of other actors. It is often forgotten that the ministerial meeting was the result of a joint initiative and invitation by the Danish and the Greenlandic Government. Greenland, a self-governing nation within the Kingdom of Denmark with a realistic path to independence, could see itself in an order that emphasized states. Greenlandic paradiplomacy – the diplomacy of sub-state regional entities vis-à-vis foreign actors – influenced and gave credibility to the Danish initiatives and thus came to play a crucial role in a vital ordering moment in Arctic politics. As an Inuit subnational polity, Greenland lent legitimacy to the Ilulissat initiative, by showing that it did not simply originate in capitals far south of the Arctic Circle, but that at least one indigenous people of the High north stood behind it. nuuk’s involvement caused consternation among other Inuit groups who resisted the concentration of power in the sovereign hands of the sub-Arctic capitals (Inuit Circumpolar Council 2009; Steinberg et al. 2014). Indigenous and postcolonial identity was thus a paradiplomatic resource for Greenland, which had implications for the high politics of the region, but it remained contested as other actors challenged Greenland’s right to speak on behalf of the Inuit.