Arctic

The Arctic undergoes dramatic changes due to the climate crisis, geopolitics and altered living conditions. DIIS's research examines the new security policies and the political dynamics between Arctic states and the indigenous peoples of the region.

Research and activites

Photo/illustration by Shutterstock, valerii eidlin

Livestreaming

The importance of archives in decolonisation processes in the North and the role of international law

DIIS Auditorium

Archives have played and continue to play a crucial role in decolonisation processes in the North. And control over archives regarding colonial histories today play key roles in truth and reconciliation processes playing out in the North.
Photo/illustration by Peter Mydske/Stortinget copyright license

Journal Article

2024

The Nordic countries face a colonial reckoning

Essay explores the Nordic truth commissions
Book Chapter

2024

Indigenous peoples and green NGOs are surprisingly uneasy allies in the Arctic

Inuit have felt campaigns for animal rights as a threat to their livelihood and culture. While some green NGOs have gone lengths to realign with indigenous peoples in their reorientation to fight climate change, some Greenlanders find that climate policies threaten their right to development and self-determination.
Book Chapter

2024

Greenland's desecuritization of security and defense

To save its independence project from getting caught in the current geopolitical freeze in the Arctic, Greenland de-securitizes security by downplaying security and defense aspects of Greenlandic independence and instead highlighting economic aspects and civilian solutions.
Book

2024

Greenland in Arctic Security - independence, climate change and nuclear missiles

Greenland in Arctic Security delivers a comprehensive overview of how security dynamics unfold in and in relation to Greenland. From great power interests in geostrategic infrastructure to domestic debates centered on promoting and protecting Greenland identity when engaging with the outside world.
Photo/illustration by Leiff Josefsen

'Free Association' in Greenland? Caribbean and Pacific experiences

DIIS, auditorium

To understand what future course, Greenland might be setting itself on, DIIS invites for a seminar with professor Rafael Cox Alomar, expert in comparative constitutional law in the context of decolonization.
Photo/illustration by Capt. Mikel Arcovitch/The National Guard/Flickr copyright license

Journal Article

2023

Reclaiming Arcticness

The writing of an Arctic chapter in the US autobiography
Photo/illustration by NASA Photo Alamy Stock Photo

DIIS Policy Brief

2023

Arctic climate science is caught in the middle of geopolitical tension

The frozen relations between Russia and the West have serious ramifications in the Arctic, politically and scientifically. It is time to think of ways to exempt climate science and data from this geopolitical split.
Photo/illustration by Stortinget, CC 2.0 copyright license

Web Article

2023

Will Norway’s truth and reconciliation process bring change?

A public reading of Norway’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report took 35 hours and was broadcast live. But during its five years of work, the TRC rarely made national headlines. Most Norwegians know little about Indigenous and national minorities’ language, culture and history. Those groups are still struggling to have their rights respected, the report found. Follow-up of the TRC recommendations is therefore crucial, say three scholars.
Photo/illustration by Stian Mo via Flickr.com copyright license

Web Article

2023

Truth and reconciliation in Norway amidst a crisis of trust
Photo/illustration by Pool/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

Webinar

The Arctic Council in the shadow of the War in Ukraine

Online via Zoom

This webinar brings together officials and experts from Denmark, Greenland, Norway and Finland to discuss the current and future state of the Arctic Council following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Seminars

2 December 2022

Arctic Politics Seminars

Since 2014, the "Arctic Politics" WIP-seminars have engaged a broad range of scholars from the social sciences and humanities research environments in discussions on core research infrastructure. The themes are ranging from geopolitics via negotiations in the Danish 'community of the realm' to Greenlandic nation building.
Photo/illustration by Jason Box

The Greenland ice sheet and our planetary future

DIIS Auditorium

Join us for an expedition exploring the science and global politics of vanishing ice, from Greenland to COP27, with famous glaciologist Jason Box
DIIS Policy Brief

2022

Nuuk as a diplomatic scene

Protocol, pitfalls, and practice
DIIS Working Paper

2022

Does China control Arctic mineral raw materials

But we need to understand both how China prioritises minerals differently from the West, and how 'control' comes not from mine ownership
Photo/illustration by Raelene Goddard / Alamy Stock Photo

Webinar

Chinese involvement in the Arctic minerals sector

What motivates Chinese companies - and their Western counterparts?
Photo/illustration by John Rasmussen, Narsaq Foto

DIIS Policy Brief

2022

Chinese companies in Arctic mining are gaming the master plan

But Western needs often drive Chinese involvement
Podcast

2021

Navigating relations with Russia in the Arctic

Podcast on security politics in the Arctic
Photo/illustration by Nato

Webinar

NATO and transatlantic relations

From Trump to Biden
DIIS Policy Brief

2021

Finding a new niche for Denmark in NATO

Take a stand on China and put your money in the Arctic
DIIS Report

2021

Chinese investments in Greenland

origins, progress and actors
Photo/illustration by Mark Gry Christiansen

DIIS Policy Brief

2021

Greenland obviously has its own defense policy

– but it needs anchoring to be sustainable
Web Article

2021

Opposition to the Kuannersuit project offers an opportunity for the EU and United States to pursue closer cooperation with Greenland

_
Photo/illustration by Duncan Cumming/Flickr copyright license

Journal Article

2021

Getting by in a Troubled Arctic

The Kingdom of Denmark and the Great Powers
Photo/illustration by Andrew Testa/Ate03040grn/Ritzau Scanpix

DIIS Policy Brief

2021

Greenland’s minerals to consolidate China’s rare earth dominance?

No green future without China

Photo/illustration by Peter Mydske/Stortinget copyright license

Journal Article

2024

The Nordic Countries Face a Colonial Reckoning

Astrid Nonbo Andersen

Current History, 123

Read publication (external link)
Book Chapter

2024

Security transfigurations across sectors

Animals, climate, and self-determination in Greenland

Ulrik Pram Gad, Lill Rastad Bjørst & Marc Jacobsen

Greenland in Arctic security. University of Michigan Press

Read publication (external link)
Book Chapter

2024

Greenland's desecuritization of security and defense

Rasmus Kjærgaard Rasmussen, Sophie Rud, Marc Jacobsen & Ulrik Pram Gad

Greenland in Arctic security. University of Michigan Press

Read publication (external link)
Book Chapter

2024

Introduction

Analyzing Greenland securitizations

Marc Jacobsen, Ulrik Pram Gad & Ole Wæver

Greenland in Arctic security. University of Michigan Press

Read publication (external link)
Book

2024

Greenland in Arctic security

(De)securitization dynamics under climatic thaw and geopolitical freeze

Marc Jacobsen, Ole Wæver & Ulrik Pram Gad

Read publication (external link)
Photo/illustration by Capt. Mikel Arcovitch/The National Guard/Flickr copyright license

Journal Article

2023

Reclaiming Arcticness

The writing of an Arctic chapter in the US autobiography

Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard

Journal of Arctic and Climate Security Studies, 1

Read publication (external link)
Working papers etc.

2023

Free Association in Greenlandic context

Mikkel Underlin Østergaard, Rasmus Leander Nielsen & Ulrik Pram Gad

Download (pdf, 2.3 MB)
DIIS Working Paper

2022

Does China control Arctic mineral raw materials

How much, what, how and why?

Patrik Andersson & Per Kalvig

Download (pdf, 699.4 KB)
DIIS Report

2021

Chinese investments in Greenland

origins, progress and actors

Yang Jiang

Download (pdf, 3.1 MB)
Book Chapter

2021

Translations of security cascading at Thule

Ulrik Pram Gad

Translations of Security. London: Routledge Falmer

Read publication (external link)
Book Chapter

2021

Imagining China on Greenland's Road to Independence

Ulrik Pram Gad, Naja Dyrendom Graugaard, Anders Holgersen, Marc Jakobsen, Nina Lave & Nikoline Schriver

China's Arctic Engagement. Following the Polar Silk Road to Greenland and Russia. North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network

Read publication (external link)
Photo/illustration by Duncan Cumming/Flickr copyright license

Journal Article

2021

Getting by in a Troubled Arctic

the Kingdom of Denmark and the Great Powers

Mikkel Runge Olesen

Diplomaatia

Read the article on Diplomaatia (external link)
Journal Article

2020

The Greenland Reconciliation Commission

Moving Away from a Legal Framework

Astrid Nonbo Andersen

Yearbook of Polar Law, 11

Read publication (external link)
Journal Article

2020

The end of Arctic exceptionalism?

A review of the academic debates and what the Arctic prospects mean for the Kingdom of Denmark

Mikkel Runge Olesen

Danish Foreign Policy Review, 2020

Download (pdf, 691.6 KB)
DIIS Report

2019

Intensifying great power politics in the Arctic - point of consideration by the Kingdom of Denmark

From an analysis of assesments and strategies in Finland, Norway and Iceland

Mikkel Runge Olesen & Camilla Tenna Nørup Sørensen

Download (pdf, 3.2 MB)
DIIS Working Paper

2017

Arctic Rivalries

Friendly competition or dangerous conflict?

Mikkel Runge Olesen

Download (pdf, 719.7 KB)
DIIS Report

2015

Arktis og Ukrainekrisen

perspektiver for Rigsfællesskabet

Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen

Download (pdf, 2.1 MB)
Book chapter

2015

Common and Competing Interests

Mikkel Runge Olesen

Arctic Security Matters. EU Institute for Security Studies

Read publication (external link)
Journal Article

2015

Greenland, Denmark and the pathway to uranium supplier status

Cindy Vestergaard

The Extractive Industries and Society, 2

Read publication (external link)
Conference proceedings

2014

Nordic foreign and security policies

Conference proceedings 26 November 2013

Mikkel Runge Olesen

Download (pdf, 780.5 KB)
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Journal Article

2014

Arctic security

global dynamics upset stable regional order

Mikkel Runge Olesen

The Arctic This Week
DIIS Working Paper

2014

Cooperation or conflict in the Arctic

a literature review

Mikkel Runge Olesen

Download (pdf, 225.8 KB)
Journal Article

2013

The European Union, its overseas territories and non-proliferation

the case of arctic yellowcake

Cindy Vestergaard

Non-Proliferation Papers
DIIS Report

2011

Perspectives on security in the Arctic area

Download (pdf, 1.2 MB)
DIIS Report

2010

Conference on the Arctic Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone

Copenhagen, 10-11 August, 2009

Cindy Vestergaard

Download (pdf, 1.1 MB)

Photo/illustration by NASA Photo Alamy Stock Photo

DIIS Policy Brief

2023

Arctic climate science is caught in the middle of geopolitical tension

Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard

Download (pdf, 1.1 MB)
DIIS Policy Brief

2022

Nuuk as a diplomatic scene

Protocol, pitfalls, and practice

Ulrik Pram Gad

Download (pdf, 1.6 MB)
Photo/illustration by John Rasmussen, Narsaq Foto

DIIS Policy Brief

2022

Chinese companies in Arctic mining are gaming the master plan

But Western needs often drive Chinese involvement

Patrik Andersson, Per Kalvig & Ulrik Pram Gad

Download (pdf, 3.4 MB)
Brief

2022

Of course Greenland has its own defense policy

Sara Olsvig & Ulrik Pram Gad

Read the publication on polarjournal.ch
DIIS Policy Brief

2021

Finding a new niche for Denmark in NATO

Take a stand on China and put your money in the Arctic

Mikkel Runge Olesen & Rasmus Sinding Søndergaard

Download (pdf, 524.7 KB)
Photo/illustration by Mark Gry Christiansen

DIIS Policy Brief

2021

Greenland obviously has its own defense policy

– but it needs anchoring to be sustainable

Sara Olsvig & Ulrik Pram Gad

Download (pdf, 1.3 MB)
Photo/illustration by Andrew Testa/Ate03040grn/Ritzau Scanpix

DIIS Policy Brief

2021

Greenland’s minerals to consolidate China’s rare earth dominance?

No green future without China

Per Kalvig & Hans Lucht

Download (pdf, 698.7 KB)
Photo/illustration by Russian Ministry of Defense copyright license

DIIS Policy Brief

2021

Nuclear submarines and central heating

what Russia wants in the Arctic

Flemming Splidsboel Hansen

Download (pdf, 586.1 KB)
DIIS Policy Brief

2020

Outdated lines of communication undermine legitimacy

When Denmark conducts foreign policy on behalf of Greenland … and vice versa

Sara Olsvig & Ulrik Pram Gad

Download (pdf, 578.6 KB)
DIIS Policy Brief

2020

Managing US-China Rivalry in the Arctic

Small states can be players in great power competition

Luke Patey

Download (pdf, 1.6 MB)
DIIS Policy Brief

2018

China in Greenland

Companies, Governments, and Hidden Intentions?

Yang Jiang

Download (pdf, 670.2 KB)
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

DIIS Comment

2016

‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’

Nordic beauty contests in the Arctic

Hans Mouritzen
DIIS Policy Brief

2015

Arktisk reform i Ukraines skygge

Nyt formandskab af Arktisk Råd

Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen & Mikkel Runge Olesen

Download (pdf, 2.3 MB)
DIIS Policy Brief

2014

After Ukraine

keeping the Arctic stable

Mikkel Runge Olesen

Download (pdf, 809.6 KB)

Photo/illustration by Shutterstock, valerii eidlin

Livestreaming

The importance of archives in decolonisation processes in the North and the role of international law

DIIS Auditorium

Archives have played and continue to play a crucial role in decolonisation processes in the North. And control over archives regarding colonial histories today play key roles in truth and reconciliation processes playing out in the North.
Photo/illustration by Leiff Josefsen

'Free Association' in Greenland? Caribbean and Pacific experiences

DIIS, auditorium

To understand what future course, Greenland might be setting itself on, DIIS invites for a seminar with professor Rafael Cox Alomar, expert in comparative constitutional law in the context of decolonization.
Photo/illustration by Pool/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

Webinar

The Arctic Council in the shadow of the War in Ukraine

Online via Zoom

This webinar brings together officials and experts from Denmark, Greenland, Norway and Finland to discuss the current and future state of the Arctic Council following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Seminars

2 December 2022

Arctic Politics Seminars

Since 2014, the "Arctic Politics" WIP-seminars have engaged a broad range of scholars from the social sciences and humanities research environments in discussions on core research infrastructure. The themes are ranging from geopolitics via negotiations in the Danish 'community of the realm' to Greenlandic nation building.
Photo/illustration by Jason Box

The Greenland ice sheet and our planetary future

DIIS Auditorium

Join us for an expedition exploring the science and global politics of vanishing ice, from Greenland to COP27, with famous glaciologist Jason Box
Photo/illustration by Raelene Goddard / Alamy Stock Photo

Webinar

Chinese involvement in the Arctic minerals sector

What motivates Chinese companies - and their Western counterparts?
Photo/illustration by Nato

Webinar

NATO and transatlantic relations

From Trump to Biden
Livestreaming

What next for Europe and China?

Auditorium

Trade and technology, diplomacy and defense, and the decade ahead
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

13 March 2015

New research project on Greenland's reconciliation process

Astrid Nonbo Andersen's postdoc project analyses the process and the social memories entailed by it
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Anbefalinger

18 November 2014

Elections in Greenland delay uranium legislation

Greenland has subsurface uranium deposits potentially so large, that the self-governing island can join the club of uranium suppliers. But legislation is not in place, and the process is halted because of the upcoming elections on 28 November.
Photo/illustration by Pexels. Jens Mahnke. copyright license

Video

13 November 2014

Seminar: Governing uranium in the Arctic

Natural resources have a huge impact on governance in the Arctic. Watch the full seminar.

Photo/illustration by Stortinget, CC 2.0 copyright license

Web Article

2023

Will Norway’s truth and reconciliation process bring change?

A public reading of Norway’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report took 35 hours and was broadcast live. But during its five years of work, the TRC rarely made national headlines. Most Norwegians know little about Indigenous and national minorities’ language, culture and history. Those groups are still struggling to have their rights respected, the report found. Follow-up of the TRC recommendations is therefore crucial, say three scholars.
Photo/illustration by Stian Mo via Flickr.com copyright license

Web Article

2023

Truth and reconciliation in Norway amidst a crisis of trust
Web Article

2021

Opposition to the Kuannersuit project offers an opportunity for the EU and United States to pursue closer cooperation with Greenland

_

Imagining Independence - Greenland's Postcolonial Politics of Comparison

Tiny population. Huge territory. Extreme conditions. It is far from obvious where to find inspiration when Greenland aims for independence. Hence, a wide variety of im- and explicit comparisons...
Photo/illustration by Netha Hussain, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons copyright license

TRiNC: Truth & Reconciliation in the Nordic Countries

TRiNC is a research project dealing with the ongoing and coming Truth/Reconciliation processes in Norway, Sweden and Finland. The project follows the processes from the early idea and...

Podcast

2021

Navigating relations with Russia in the Arctic

Podcast on security politics in the Arctic

DIIS Experts

Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Astrid Nonbo Andersen

Peace and violence

Senior Researcher

+45 9132 5594

asan@diis.dk
Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Cecilie Felicia Stokholm Banke

Foreign policy and diplomacy

Head of unit, Senior researcher

+45 3269 8938

cfb@diis.dk
Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Flemming Splidsboel Hansen

Foreign policy and diplomacy

Senior Researcher

+45 9132 5602

fsha@diis.dk
Photo/illustration by Jette Mariboe, DIIS

Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard

Global security and worldviews

PhD Candidate

+45 9132 5432

lamo@diis.dk
Luke Patey

Foreign policy and diplomacy

Senior Researcher

+45 9132 5479

lpa@diis.dk
Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Mikkel Runge Olesen

Foreign policy and diplomacy

Senior Researcher

+45 2851 0502

mro@diis.dk
Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Ulrik Pram Gad

Global security and worldviews

Senior Researcher

+45 6088 5559

ulpg@diis.dk
Photo/illustration by Lynggaardhansenfoto.dk

Yang Jiang

Migration and global order

Senior Researcher

+45 9132 5560

yaji@diis.dk