"While we owe much to America I do not feel that we owe them the whole island of Greenland": How the triangular security relationship between Greenland, Denmark, and the United States is articulated in events of US' attempts to purchase Greenland in 1946 and 2019, their reflections of the Arctic security political issues, and the effects in the triangular relationship
Author
Larsen, Iben Fejerskov
Term
4. term
Publication year
2021
Submitted on
2021-05-27
Pages
84
Abstract
This thesis examines how the triangular security relationship between Greenland, Denmark, and the United States is articulated around the U.S. proposals to purchase Greenland in 1946 and 2019, what these episodes reveal about Arctic security dynamics and great-power rivalry, and how they affect the relationship. Taking a social constructivist perspective, the study conducts a discourse analysis of official documents, speeches, and statements by Greenlandic, Danish, and U.S. actors, organized around the two proposals. Using the Copenhagen School’s securitization framework—securitizing actor, existential threat, referent object, audience, and facilitating conditions—the analysis traces arguments, contexts, and speech acts that define security for each party. The findings indicate a paradigm shift in articulations and discourses: whereas debates around 1946 were dominated by traditional security concerns and threats moving from Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union, by 2019 the discourse broadened to include relationships, independence, and environment. The United States increasingly framed Russia, China, and climate change as threats, while Denmark and Greenland emphasized external threats (including Russia) alongside concerns over external interference in the Danish–Greenlandic relationship and Greenland’s self-determination and path toward independence. Overall, the triangular relationship appears strongly shaped by external developments, and the three actors’ different constructions of reality guide their distinct approaches to security.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan den triangulære sikkerhedsrelation mellem Grønland, Danmark og USA artikuleres omkring USA's forslag om at købe Grønland i henholdsvis 1946 og 2019, hvad disse episoder afslører om arktiske sikkerhedsdynamikker og stormagtsrivalisering, og hvordan de påvirker relationen. Med et socialkonstruktivistisk udgangspunkt gennemføres en diskursanalyse af officielle dokumenter, taler og udtalelser fra grønlandske, danske og amerikanske aktører, organiseret efter de to forslag. Ved hjælp af Københavnerskolens sekuritiseringsteori—sekuritiserende aktør, eksistentiel trussel, referent objekt, publikum og faciliterende betingelser—kortlægges argumenter, kontekster og talehandlinger, der definerer sikkerhed for hver part. Resultaterne peger på et paradigmeskifte i artikulationer og diskurser: Hvor debatten i 1946 var domineret af traditionelle sikkerhedsbekymringer og trusler, der skiftede fra Nazi-Tyskland til Sovjetunionen, var diskursen i 2019 udvidet til også at omfatte relationer, uafhængighed og miljø. USA rammesatte i stigende grad Rusland, Kina og klimaforandringer som trusler, mens Danmark og Grønland fremhævede eksterne trusler (herunder Rusland) sammen med bekymringer om ekstern indblanding i den dansk-grønlandske relation og Grønlands selvbestemmelse og vej mod selvstændighed. Overordnet synes trekantsforholdet i høj grad formet af eksterne udviklinger, og de tre aktørers forskellige konstruktioner af virkeligheden præger deres forskellige sikkerhedstilgange.
[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]