Greenland Sovereignty: Past and Present

In the 21st century, there have been only five new nations to emerge: South Sudan in 2011, Kosovo in 2008, Serbia and Montenegro in 2006, and Timor-Leste in 2002. While there are several ongoing separatist movements throughout the world vying to gain independence, the case of Greenland stands out due to the peaceful and cooperative nature of its long journey towards statehood. The prospect of an independent Greenland has become even more important to the United States and other world actors due to its critical place at one of the two junctures between the North American and Eurasian Arctic. Greenland has ahead of it both significant opportunity and risk as climate change exposes new economic opportunities and also utterly disrupts a way of life that has existed for hundreds of years. These issues make the questions surrounding independence more relevant than ever, as they have the potential to both be significantly be affected by the changes occurring in the region, and the potential to create a new actor to shape the region itself. This report will lay out the history and current shape of the independence movement in Greenland, and examine a few of the ways the environmental and economic changes are in turn affecting the movement.