ASTK15364U COURSE: Greenland at the Crossroads: Climate Change, Asian Interests in the Arctic and developments in Greenland

The course will consider what Greenlandic actors can do with the overall ambitions of economic development and, eventually, statehood facing several big challenges stemming from internal and external pressures in the changing geopolitical context of the Arctic: Which ideas and instruments of governance, natural resources, nation building and state formation is available for Greenland under the present circumstances? Ongoing climate changes have catapulted Greenland into the proclaimed role of the messenger of the rapid changes going on in the Arctic as a warning of future challenges globally. At the same time, Greenland is a gate to opportunities that the Arctic offers a growing world population with growing demands for natural resources that the climate change is reported to make easier accessible. The course will discuss scenarios for development in Greenland within the context of developments in the Arctic and in relations between Greenland and Denmark by focusing on dynamics in three areas of drastic change: Continuing climate change, growing Asian interests in the Arctic together with the resulting governance implications for Greenland.