Abstract
Introduction
In recent years, international interest in the Arctic has increased as climate change is making the region increasingly accessible. Not only is the receding sea ice opening up new shipping routes across the Arctic, but exploitation of the region’s natural resources is also facilitated. This process is slow but steady. When combined with recent changes in the global balance of power, the net result is that the strategic importance of the High North has grown significantly over the last decade – and is poised to grow even more in the coming years. The colossal island of Greenland experiences these changes at a point in its history where most political parties and the majority of the native Inuit population are striving for eventual independence, thereby dissolving the union with Denmark. As part of the Danish Realm (Rigsfællesskabet), Greenland currently enjoys complete autonomy, but shares foreign and defense policy with Denmark and the Faroe islands.2 While prior to the introduction of SelfGovernment in 2009, defense and foreign policy was (almost) exclusively managed by Denmark, the last decade has witnessed increased involvement by the government in Nuuk – the capital of Greenland – in defense and foreign policy questions. The most recent example of this is a variety of initiatives aimed at strengthening the relations between the armed forces of the Danish Realm and the society of Greenland. In this article, we study the debate about a possible military volunteer organization in Greenland and how the plans have progressed so far. The text builds on interviews with politicians from Denmark and Greenland, researchers, the Arctic Command and the Greenlandic Police about their expectations and opinion regarding such an organization. Our respondents represent a rather small, but centrally placed group who is either directly involved or has an interest in the development of Greenland, politically, economic and militarily. Supplementing these interviews have been reports on the development in the Arctic as well as political agreements such as defense bills.