The Arctic Region is increasingly becoming a place of international attention. As the ice melts, new opportunities and challenges arise. Asian states which previously had little interest in the area are taking a greater interest in the Arctic.
In the AsiArctic research program we, researchers from the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI) and the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies (IFS), aim to contribute new and relevant knowledge on the Arctic interests of China, Japan, Korea and India.
The most recent outcome of AsiArctic work is the FNI report concerning Greenland´s future and the emerging relations between Greenland and the EU, China and South Korea.
The report explores the Greenlandic government's recent strategies to establish a large-scale extraction industry in its territory, focusing especially on Greenland's developing ties to the EU, China and South Korea.
The report links the Greenlandic government's international outreach to the territory's aspirations for full independence from Denmark, showing how mounting international interest in Arctic resources serves to strengthen the idea of Greenland as a independent actor.
The aim of this report is to highlight how the creation of a sovereign image is at the centre of state building efforts in Greenland, and how, by taking advantage of the mounting global interest in the Arctic, Greenland is able to effectively increase its international agency.
This report takes a constructivist approach to sovereignty, and the work of Cynthia Weber and Thomas Biersteker forms its theoretical core.
The report is now available at the Arctic Portal on line library. Click here for the quick download.