The Road to the East Goes via the North-Asian Partnerships in Danish Arctic Policy

Chapter
First Online:
Part of the Springer Geology book series (SPRINGERGEOL)

Abstract

This chapter examines how the Asian states should engage with the states of the Arctic, based on an in depth case study of how Denmark approaches to these states in the High North. It argues that engaging with the Asian states is a secondary activity for Denmark that enables it to improve Danish–Greenlandic relations, strengthen ties to the Asian states, and strengthen Arctic cooperation.

Keywords

Asian State Arctic State Arctic Council Constitutional Arrangement Northeast Asian Country 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

This chapter is largely based on interviews with officials from the Danish Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense and the Arctic Council, conducted in January 2015. The interviewees only spoke in a personal capacity and did not represent the views of their institution. They are not responsible for any inaccuracies or mistakes found in this chapter. I would like to thank all participants for their time and observations that sharpened the argument of this chapter immensely.

References

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
    Atlantic Council. “National Composition of NATO Strike Sorties in Libya,” 2011. http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/national-composition-of-nato-strike-sorties-in-libya.
  3. 3.
    Barkham, Patrick. “Why Does Denmark Think It Can Lay Claim to the North Pole?” The Guardian, December 16, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/dec/16/why-denmark-thinks-it-can-lay-claim-to-north-pole.
  4. 4.
    Boersma, Tim, and Kevin Foley. The Greenland Gold Rush - Promise and Pitfalls of Greenland’s Energy and Mineral Resources. Washington D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 2014.Google Scholar
  5. 5.
    Breum, Martin. Balladen Om Grønland. Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 2014.Google Scholar
  6. 6.
    Dahlin, Ulrik. “Udlevering: Endnu en Begmand til Justitsministeren i Holck-Sag.” Information, June 1, 2011.Google Scholar
  7. 7.
    Danish Defense Intelligence Service. Intelligence Risk Assesment 2014. Copenhagen: Danish Defense Intelligence Service, 2014.Google Scholar
  8. 8.
    Danish Foreign Policy Institute. Grønland under den Kolde Krig, Dansk og Amerikansk Sikkerhedspolitik 1945-68. Copenhagen: Danish Foreign Policy Institute, 1997.Google Scholar
  9. 9.
    Danish Institute for International Studies. Danmark under den Kolde Krig, Den Sikkerhedspolitiske Situation 1945-1991. Copenhagen: Danish Institute for International Studies, 2005.Google Scholar
  10. 10.
    Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Government of Greenland. Partial Submission of the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark Together with the Government of Greenland to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf - The Northern Continental Shelf of Greenland. Copenhagen: Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, 2014.Google Scholar
  11. 11.
    Danish Parliament. Danish Defence Agreement 2013-2017. Copenhagen: Ministry of Defense, 2012.Google Scholar
  12. 12.
    Degeorges, Damien. The Role of Greenland in the Arctic. Paris: L’Institut de Recherche Stratégique de l’Ecole Militaire, 2012.Google Scholar
  13. 13.
    Gad, Ulrik P. “Greenland: A Post-Danish Sovereign Nation State in the Making.” Cooperation and Conflict 49, no. 1 (2014).Google Scholar
  14. 14.
    Government of Denmark. Lov Om Grønlands Selvstyre. Lovtidende A. Vol. 473, 2009.Google Scholar
  15. 15.
    Government of Denmark, Government of Greenland, and Government of the Faroe Islands. Strategy for the Arctic 2011– 2020. Copenhagen: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2011.Google Scholar
  16. 16.
    Greenlandic-Danish Independence Commission. Grønlandsk-Dansk Selvstyrekommissions Betænkning om Selvstyre i Grønland. Copenhagen: Greenlandic-Danish Independence Commission, 2008.Google Scholar
  17. 17.
    Helgesen, Geir, Aki Tonami, and Nis B. Heilmann. Why Asia?. Copenhagen: Committee for Greenlandic Mineral Resources to the Benefit of Society, 2013.Google Scholar
  18. 18.
    Hviid, Alexander. Till Kingdom Come? An Analysis of Greenland as the Danish Link to the Arctic. Copenhagen: Royal Danish Defense College, 2015.Google Scholar
  19. 19.
    iCasualties. “Operation Enduring Freedom. Fatalities By Nationality,” 2014. http://icasualties.org/OEF/Nationality.aspx.
  20. 20.
    Jakobsen, Peter Viggo, and Jens Ringsmose. “In Denmark, Afghanistan Is Worth Dying for: How Public Support for the War Was Maintained in the Face of Mounting Casualties and Elusive Success.” Cooperation and Conflict, 2015, forthcoming.Google Scholar
  21. 21.
    Jakobson, Linda, and Seong-Hyon Lee. The North East Asian States’ Interests in the Arctic and Possible Cooperation with the Kingdom of Denmark. Stockholm: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 2013.Google Scholar
  22. 22.
    Jørgensen, Henrik J., and Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen. Keep It Cool! Four Scenarios for the Danish Armed Forces in Greenland in 2030. Copenhagen: Danish Institute for Military Studies, 2009.Google Scholar
  23. 23.
    Kaur, Ravinda. “In the Shadow of Kim Davy: India–Denmark Relations in the Early 21st Century.” In Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2013, by Nanna Hvidt and Hans Mouritzen. Copenhagen: Danish Institute for International Studies, 2013.Google Scholar
  24. 24.
    Kristensen, Kristian S. “Negotiating Base Rights for Missile Defence - The Case of Thule Air Base in Greenland.” In Missile Defence - International, Regional and National Implications, by Bertel Heurlin and Sten Rynning, 183–207. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.Google Scholar
  25. 25.
    Kristensen, Kristian S., Rune Hoffmann, and Jacob Pedersen. Samfundshåndhævelse i Grønland - Forandring, Forsvar og Frivillighed. Copenhagen: Center for Military Studies, 2013.Google Scholar
  26. 26.
    Kristensen, Kristian S., Flemming Pradhan-Blach, and Gary Schaub. Om Fremtidig Brug af Ubemandede Fly i Det Danske Forsvar. Copenhagen: Center for Military Studies, 2013.Google Scholar
  27. 27.
    Lidegaard, Bo. I Kongens Navn : Henrik Kauffmann i Dansk Diplomati 1919-1958. Copenhagen: Samleren, 1996.Google Scholar
  28. 28.
    Lunde, Leiv. “The Nordic Embrace: Why the Nordic Countries Welcome Asia to the Arctic Table.” Asia Policy 18, no. 1 (2014): 39–45.Google Scholar
  29. 29.
    Mortensen, Bent O. G. “The Quest for Resources – the Case of Greenland.” Journal of Military and Strategic Studies 15, no. 2 (2013): 93–128.Google Scholar
  30. 30.
    Nuttall, Mark. “Zero-Tolerance, Uranium and Greenland’s Mining Future.” The Polar Journal 3, no. 2 (2013): 368–83.Google Scholar
  31. 31.
    Pedersen, Rasmus Brun. “Danish Foreign Policy Activism: Differences in Kind or Degree?” Cooperation and Conflict 47, no. 3 (2012): 331–49.Google Scholar
  32. 32.
    Petersen, Nikolaj. “The Arctic as a New Arena for Danish Foreign Policy: The Ilulissat Initiative and Its Implications.” In Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2009, by Nanna Hvidt and Hans Mouritzen, 35–78. Copenhagen: Danish Institute for International Studies, 2009.Google Scholar
  33. 33.
    Rahbek-Clemmensen, Jon. “‘Arctic-Vism’ in Practice – The Challenges Facing Denmark’s Political-Military Strategy in the High North.” In Arctic Yearbook 2014, by Lasse Heininen. Akureyri: Northern Research Forum, 2014.Google Scholar
  34. 34.
    ———. “Denmark in the Arctic: Bowing to Three Masters.” In Atlantic Perspective 35, no. 3 (2011): 9–14.Google Scholar
  35. 35.
    Rahbek-Clemmensen, Jon, Esben S. Larsen, and Mikkel V. Rasmussen. Forsvaret i Arktis – Suverænitet, Samarbejde og Sikkerhed, København: Center for Militære Studier. Copenhagen: Center for Military Studies, 2012.Google Scholar
  36. 36.
    Rasmussen, Mikkel V. Greenland Geopolitics: Globalisation and Geopolitics in the New North. Copenhagen: Committee for Greenlandic Mineral Resources to the Benefit of Society, 2013.Google Scholar
  37. 37.
    Ringsmose, Jens. Danske Droner - En Nuancering af Debatten om Ubemandede Fly. Copenhagen: Royal Danish Defense College, 2014.Google Scholar
  38. 38.
    Rosing, Minik. Til Gavn for Grønland. Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, 2014.Google Scholar
  39. 39.
    Solli, Per Erik, Elana Wilson Rowe, and Wrenn Yennie Lindgren. “Coming into the Cold: Asia’s Arctic Interests.” Polar Geography 36, no. 4 (2013): 253–70.Google Scholar
  40. 40.
    Sørensen, Bent H. “Stærkt Kinesisk Firma Køber Grønlandsk Mineprojekt.” Berlingske, January 13, 2015.Google Scholar
  41. 41.
    Sørensen, Helle N. “Danmark vil have EU med i Arktisk Råd.” KNR, 2014. http://knr.gl/da/nyheder/danmark-vil-have-eu-med-i-arktisk-r%C3%A5d
  42. 42.
    Tamnes, Rolf, and Sven G. Holtsmark. “The Geopolitics of the Arctic in Historical Perspective.” In Geopolitics and Security in the Arctic: Regional Dynamics in a Global World, by Rolf Tamnes and Kristine Offerdal, 12–48. Abingdon: Routledge, 2014.Google Scholar
  43. 43.
    The Economic Council of Greenland. The Economy of Greenland 2013. Nuuk: The Economic Council of Greenland, 2013.Google Scholar
  44. 44.
    The Public Accounts Committee. Beretning om Danmarks Indsats i Arktis. Copenhagen: The Public Accounts Committee, 2013.Google Scholar
  45. 45.
    Tonami, Aki. “Arctic Newcomers: Japan, South Korea and Singapore.” East Asia Forum, 2014. http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2014/02/15/arctic-newcomers-japan-south-korea-and-singapore/.
  46. 46.
    Wang, Nils. “Råstoffer, Rigdom og Realpolitik.” Politiken. June 12, 2012. http://politiken.dk/debat/kroniken/ECE1653037/raastoffer-rigdom-og-realpolitik/.
  47. 47.
    Wilkening, Dean A. Ballistic-Missile Defence and Strategic Stability. Adelphi Paper. London: Institute for International Strategic Studies, 2004.Google Scholar
  48. 48.
    Wilson, Page. “Asia Eyes the Arctic.” The Diplomat, 2013. http://thediplomat.com/2013/08/asia-eyes-the-arctic/.
  49. 49.
    Young, Oran R. “The Future of the Arctic: Cauldron of Conflict or Zone of Peace?” International Affairs 87, no. 1 (2011): 185–93.Google Scholar
  50. 50.
    The Fridtjof Nansen Center and the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies have established a separate research program about the role of the Asian countries in the High North (see www.asiarctic.no). The University of Copenhagen similarly has a research program on the role of Asia in the Arctic (www.asiachangingarctic.com). Examples of the literature includes an issue of Asia Policy (no. 18) that was largely dedicated to the role of the Asian countries in the Arctic and policy-oriented publications such as Linda Jakobson and Seong-Hyon Lee, The North East Asian States’ Interests in the Arctic and Possible Cooperation with the Kingdom of Denmark (Stockholm: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 2013); Aki Tonami, “Arctic Newcomers: Japan, South Korea and Singapore,” East Asia Forum, 2014, http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2014/02/15/arctic-newcomers-japan-south-korea-and-singapore/; Per Erik Solli, Elana Wilson Rowe, and Wrenn Yennie Lindgren, “Coming into the Cold: Asia’s Arctic Interests,” Polar Geography 36, no. 4 (2013): 253–70; Page Wilson, “Asia Eyes The Arctic,” The Diplomat, 2013, http://thediplomat.com/2013/08/asia-eyes-the-arctic/; Geir Helgesen, Aki Tonami, and Nis B. Heilmann, Why Asia? (Copenhagen: Committee for Greenlandic Mineral Resources to the Benefit of Society, 2013). The issue has also attracted quite some interest in the popular press, for instance Anonymous, “The Roar of Ice Cracking,” The Economist, February 2, 2013, http://www.economist.com/news/international/21571127-will-asian-countries-consolidate-or-disrupt-arctic-stability-roar-ice-cracking.
  51. 51.
    Leiv Lunde, “The Nordic Embrace: Why the Nordic Countries Welcome Asia to the Arctic Table,” Asia Policy 18, no. 1 (2014): 39–45.Google Scholar
  52. 52.
    This section builds upon and expands the argument made in Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, “‘Arctic-Vism’ in Practice—The Challenges Facing Denmark’s Political-Military Strategy in the High North,” in Arctic Yearbook 2014, by Lasse Heininen (Akureyri: Northern Research Forum, 2014).Google Scholar
  53. 53.
    For an overview of the constitutional arrangement of the Commonwealth, see Alexander Hviid, Till Kingdom Come? An Analysis of Greenland as the Danish Link to the Arctic (Copenhagen: Royal Danish Defense College, 2015).Google Scholar
  54. 54.
    Greenlandic-Danish Independence Commission, Grønlandsk-Dansk Selvstyrekommissions Betænkning Om Selvstyre i Grønland (Copenhagen: Greenlandic-Danish Independence Commission, 2008), 450; Minik Rosing, Til Gavn for Grønland (Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, 2014), 10.Google Scholar
  55. 55.
    Peter Viggo Jakobsen and Jens Ringsmose, “In Denmark, Afghanistan Is Worth Dying for: How Public Support for the War Was Maintained in the Face of Mounting Casualties and Elusive Success,” Cooperation and Conflict, 2015, forthcoming.Google Scholar
  56. 56.
    Rasmus Brun Pedersen, “Danish Foreign Policy Activism: Differences in Kind or Degree?,” Cooperation and Conflict 47, no. 3 (2012): 331–49.Google Scholar
  57. 57.
    Atlantic Council, “National Composition of NATO Strike Sorties in Libya,” 2011, http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/national-composition-of-nato-strike-sorties-in-libya; iCasualties, “Operation Enduring Freedom. Fatalities By Nationality,” 2012, http://icasualties.org/OEF/Nationality.aspx.
  58. 58.
    Danish Foreign Policy Institute, Grønland under den Kolde Krig, Dansk og Amerikansk Sikkerhedspolitik 1945-68 (Copenhagen: Danish Foreign Policy Institute, 1997); Danish Institute for International Studies, Danmark under den Kolde Krig, Den Sikkerhedspolitiske Situation 1945–1991 (Copenhagen: Danish Institute for International Studies, 2005), 70–80; Kristian S. Kristensen, “Negotiating Base Rights for Missile Defence—The Case of Thule Air Base in Greenland,” in Missile Defence—International, Regional and National Implications, by Bertel Heurlin and Sten Rynning (Abingdon: Routledge, 2005), 184–86; Bo Lidegaard, I Kongens Navn :Henrik Kauffmann i Dansk Diplomati 1919-1958 (Copenhagen: Samleren, 1996), 333–51; Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, “Denmark in the Arctic: Bowing to Three Masters,” In Atlantic Perspective 35, no. 3 (2011): 9–14; Rolf Tamnes and Sven G. Holtsmark, “The Geopolitics of the Arctic in Historical Perspective,” in Geopolitics and Security in the Arctic: Regional Dynamics in a Global World, by Rolf Tamnes and Kristine Offerdal (Abingdon: Routledge, 2014), 32; Dean A. Wilkening, Ballistic-Missile Defence and Strategic Stability, Adelphi Paper (London: Institute for International Strategic Studies, 2004), 31 and 34.Google Scholar
  59. 59.
    Government of Denmark, Government of Greenland, and Government of the Faroe Islands, Strategy for the Arctic 2011–2020 (Copenhagen: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2011), 52–53; Helle N. Sørensen, “Danmark vil have EU med i Arktisk Råd,” KNR, 2014, http://knr.gl/da/nyheder/danmark-vil-have-eu-med-i-arktisk-r%C3%A5d.
  60. 60.
    Ulrik P. Gad, “Greenland: A Post-Danish Sovereign Nation State in the Making,” Cooperation and Conflict 49, no. 1 (2014): 101–02.Google Scholar
  61. 61.
    Rosing, Til Gavn for Grønland.Google Scholar
  62. 62.
    The Economic Council of Greenland, The Economy of Greenland 2013 (Nuuk: The Economic Council of Greenland, 2013), 15–18.Google Scholar
  63. 63.
    Mark Nuttall, “Zero-Tolerance, Uranium and Greenland’s Mining Future,” The Polar Journal 3, no. 2 (2013): 368–83.Google Scholar
  64. 64.
    Government of Denmark, Lov Om Grønlands Selvstyre, Lovtidende A, vol. 473, 2009, §12.1. My italics, JRC.Google Scholar
  65. 65.
    An excellent summary of this controversy can be found in Martin Breum, Balladen Om Grønland (Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 2014).Google Scholar
  66. 66.
    Rahbek-Clemmensen, “Denmark in the Arctic: Bowing to Three Masters.”Google Scholar
  67. 67.
    Henrik J. Jørgensen and Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, Keep It Cool! Four Scenarios for the Danish Armed Forces in Greenland in 2030 (Copenhagen: Danish Institute for Military Studies, 2009); Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, Esben S. Larsen, and Mikkel V. Rasmussen, Forsvaret i Arktis – Suverænitet, Samarbejde og Sikkerhed, København: Center for Militære Studier. (Copenhagen: Center for Military Studies, 2012); Kristian S. Kristensen, Rune Hoffmann, and Jacob Pedersen, Samfundshåndhævelse i Grønland - Forandring, Forsvar og Frivillighed (Copenhagen: Center for Military Studies, 2013); Kristian S. Kristensen, Flemming Pradhan-Blach, and Gary Schaub, Om Fremtidig Brug af Ubemandede Fly i Det Danske Forsvar (Copenhagen: Center for Military Studies, 2013), 20 and 23–24; Jens Ringsmose, Danske Droner - En Nuancering af Debatten om Ubemandede Fly (Copenhagen: Royal Danish Defense College, 2014), 16–20; Danish Parliament, Danish Defence Agreement 2013-2017 (Copenhagen: Ministry of Defense, 2012), 14–16 and 43–44; The Public Accounts Committee, Beretning om Danmarks Indsats i Arktis (Copenhagen: The Public Accounts Committee, 2013).Google Scholar
  68. 68.
    Patrick Barkham, “Why Does Denmark Think It Can Lay Claim to the North Pole?,” The Guardian, December 16, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/dec/16/why-denmark-thinks-it-can-lay-claim-to-north-pole; Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Government of Greenland, Partial Submission of the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark Together with the Government of Greenland to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf—The Northern Continental Shelf of Greenland (Copenhagen: Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, 2014).
  69. 69.
    Nikolaj Petersen, “The Arctic as a New Arena for Danish Foreign Policy: The Ilulissat Initiative and Its Implications,” in Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2009, by Nanna Hvidt and Hans Mouritzen (Copenhagen: Danish Institute for International Studies, 2009), 35–78.Google Scholar
  70. 70.
    Government of Denmark, Government of Greenland, and Government of the Faroe Islands, Strategy for the Arctic 2011–2020, 55.Google Scholar
  71. 71.
  72. 72.
    Ibid., 54.Google Scholar
  73. 73.
    Oran R. Young, “The Future of the Arctic: Cauldron of Conflict or Zone of Peace?,” International Affairs 87, no. 1 (2011): 185–93.Google Scholar
  74. 74.
    Jakobson and Lee, The North East Asian States’ Interests in the Arctic, 40.Google Scholar
  75. 75.
    Ibid., 37.Google Scholar
  76. 76.
    Bent H. Sørensen, “Stærkt Kinesisk Firma Køber Grønlandsk Mineprojekt,” Berlingske, January 13, 2015.Google Scholar
  77. 77.
    Danish Defense Intelligence Service, Intelligence Risk Assesment 2014 (Copenhagen: Danish Defense Intelligence Service, 2014), 31.Google Scholar
  78. 78.
    Damien Degeorges, The Role of Greenland in the Arctic (Paris: L’Institut de Recherche Stratégique de l’Ecole Militaire, 2012), 25–26; Bent O. G. Mortensen, “The Quest for Resources – the Case of Greenland,” Journal of Military and Strategic Studies 15, no. 2 (2013): 93–128; Nils Wang, “Råstoffer, Rigdom og Realpolitik,” Politiken, June 12, 2012, http://politiken.dk/debat/kroniken/ECE1653037/raastoffer-rigdom-og-realpolitik/. For a critique of this assertion, see Mikkel V. Rasmussen, Greenland Geopolitics: Globalisation and Geopolitics in the New North (Copenhagen: Committee for Greenlandic Mineral Resources to the Benefit of Society, 2013).
  79. 79.
    Tim Boersma and Kevin Foley, The Greenland Gold Rush— Promise and Pitfalls of Greenland’s Energy and Mineral Resources (Washington D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 2014), 2.Google Scholar
  80. 80.
    Jakobson and Lee, The North East Asian States’ Interests in the Arctic.Google Scholar
  81. 81.
    Interviewed January 2015.Google Scholar
  82. 82.
    Interviewed January 2015.Google Scholar
  83. 83.
    Interviewed January 2015.Google Scholar
  84. 84.
    Interviewed January 2015.Google Scholar
  85. 85.
    Ulrik Dahlin, “Udlevering: Endnu en Begmand til Justitsministeren i Holck-Sag,” Information, June 1, 2011; Ravinda Kaur, “In the Shadow of Kim Davy: India–Denmark Relations in the Early 21st Century,” in Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2013, by Nanna Hvidt and Hans Mouritzen (Copenhagen: Danish Institute for International Studies, 2013).Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Political Science and Public ManagementUniversity of Southern DenmarkOdense MDenmark

Personalised recommendations