Greenland's desecuritization of security and defense

In recent years, the Arctic security landscape is experiencing a rapid transformation from a path of diplomatic cooperation to intensified economic and military competition. Within this overall image, one particular development with possible implications for the entire Arctic regional security balance stands out: The case of potential Greenlandic independence.

Greenland is currently part of the Kingdom of Denmark and, through this, automatically a close ally with the U.S. and member of NATO. As Greenland actively strives toward becoming a sovereign nation-state, it raises the question of what will happen to the defense obligations of this vast territory on the North American continent in the case of full economic and political independence from Denmark?

This book chapter examines how the Government of Greenland and Greenland’s political parties envision the future of Greenland’s security framework. These visions are largely characterized by desecuritization in the sense of downplaying security and defense aspects of Greenlandic independence and instead highlighting economic aspects and civilian solutions. 

First, by unpacking the Government of Greenland’s complex constitutional-legal relationship with Denmark, the authors show how international relations have been desecuritized in bureaucratic practice.

Second, they analyze how the Government of Greenland toned down the security implications of controversies over Chinese and U.S. engagements as examples of a strategy of desecuritization.

Third, the authors identify the narratives underlying desecuritizing moves made in parliamentary debates and coalition agreements between 2017 and 2021: One narrative where independence is framed solely as economic and fiscal self-sustainability, and two narratives connecting a past as “peaceful Inuit” with calls for establishing Greenland as a future demilitarized zone.