“Thin ice: could the Greenland clash kill NATO?”
“Climate change in Greenland – Catastrophe or Chance?”
This is what a section of the headlines from the past month’s journalistic coverage of Greenland reads.
A small sample, mind you.
Because by now there is no media or language that has not in one way or another turned, turned and analyzed the foreign and security policy crisis that Greenland found itself in at the beginning of the year.
Jeppe Strandsbjerg is one of the experts who has helped to make the world press and the world’s population more aware of security policy in the Arctic and Greenland’s relationship with the USA and Denmark.
– There is a bit of a feeling of a state of emergency. Right now many things are being pushed away and people have to wait a bit for one, because this is more important, he says.
Jeppe Strandsbjerg, who is an associate professor and researcher – and employed at both the Defense Academy and Nasiffik on Ilisimatusarfik – could easily spend all his waking hours talking to journalists if he agreed to everything.
If the journalist is not well prepared or I just have to fill in some space, it doesn’t make sense for me to participate
For a period, he received between ten and fifteen inquiries from the media and journalists a day.
– It’s a bit overwhelming. If we had talked to all of them, we would have been very busy, he says.
The research colleague, political scientist Maria Ackrén, has also received many inquiries. But while last year she posed for interviews, she has taken a different approach this year and mostly refuses to answer questions.
– It turns out that it is somewhat the same strategy that some of the other researchers from here have had. In that way, not many people from here speak out, she says.
– You are affected by it
Sermitsiaq meets both researchers in the canteen at Ilimmarfik. Here, at the end of January, they took part in a panel on the geopolitical situation.
Several researchers from Nasiffik, the Center for Foreign and Security Policy, sat on the panel and gave presentations on everything from missile defense to foreign policy and answered the audience’s questions.
The geopolitical situation is changing rapidly and the development is cause for concernwas the description of the event.
When the American president started turning his gaze towards Greenland back in December, it was about a year ago that Jeppe Strandsbjerg had moved to Denmark with his family.
However, he still spends a lot of time on the campus in Nuuk, and this year he had planned to fly to Greenland at the end of January. But then it happened January 5.
– And then it all started again, he says.
With the Trump train rumbling out of it, he decided to advance his journey.
Because in addition to a professional interest in the current development in the Arctic and Greenland due to their work as researchers and teachers, the events of the past few weeks have also affected both Jeppe Strandsbjerg and Maria Ackrén on a personal level.
– It’s uncomfortable, and you get a little affected by it. At the same time, there are some discussions which run in all possible directions, says Jeppe Strandsbjerg.
Maria Ackrén had just returned from the Christmas holidays when all hell broke loose, and for her it was almost unfathomable to have to go through “the same round as last year”, as she puts it herself.
– I haven’t really bothered to follow the news. Yes, even though I am a researcher and would rather follow along. But when it comes to those long debates and the ‘battle for Greenland’ and all that – it makes you a little tired.
– This is also why this time I have taken the approach that I do not bother to answer questions, she says.
There is beginning to be a great demand for research in the Arctic
Jeppe Strandsbjerg’s strategy, when it comes to the time he spends talking to journalists, has been about strict prioritization.
– You spend a lot of time on it, and at the moment you can sometimes have the feeling that you don’t get to do anything else, he says.
– At the same time, I also think it is important to explain the story. So I have prioritized major media and international media – or people I know.
If you turn it around, isn’t that the whole point of your research: to get it out as widely as possible?
– Yes, you can say that, replies Jeppe Strandsbjerg.
– But if the journalist is not well prepared, or if I just have to fill in some space, it makes no sense for me to participate.
The Arctic has become ‘hype’
The interest from TV stations all over the world and major international newspapers has been something that as an Arctic researcher you have had to get used to.
At least that’s how Jeppe Strandsbjerg feels.
– When the interest is as massive as it is now, I think you have had to get used to it, he says and adds:
– Also the big international press.
Maria Ackrén nods.
– I don’t think you ever get used to it, she says.
Although in the midst of the busyness and seriousness of the foreign policy situation it can be difficult to see the bright spots, there are positive aspects to all the attention that has come to Greenland and the Arctic.
– There is starting to be a great demand for research in the Arctic to varying degrees and extents, says Maria Ackrén.
She emphasizes that Denmark’s Free Research Foundation, which distributes billions of dollars each year to various research projects, has specifically requested projects with a focus on the Arctic in recent years.
Last year, the foundation distributed more than DKK 46.5 million for a total of seven research projects with a focus on “current and long-term issues in the Arctic”.
– So it will be a bit of ‘hype’ in that it is easier to apply for funding now if you have some good ideas or projects underway, she says.
In addition, Jeppe Strandsbjerg has the experience that many journalists and the media, as a result of last year’s focus on Greenland, now know much more.
– Last year it was all new and the international press didn’t know very much about Greenland, and they didn’t know very much about Trump either, he says and continues:
– I think everyone who deals with the Arctic had a feeling that you had to educate or inform the journalist.
He hasn’t had the same feeling this year – at all, he says.
– Now the Danish media in particular know extremely much more. It is not always that the angle makes everyone happy, but you have a much better understanding of what Greenland is.
