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The Greenlandic Wish for Independence an Investigation of the Possibilities Within Free Association

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The Greenlandic Wish for Independence an Investigation of the Possibilities Within Free Association The Greenlandic wish for independence An investigation of the possibilities within free association Mikkel U. Østergaard Master’s thesis, 2017 ABSTRACT The Master’s thesis takes its point of departure in the Greenlandic Constitution Commission established in the spring of 2017. Besides formulating two constitutions, the commission was tasked with exploring options for entering into free association. I set out to explore previous use of free association in the United States and New Zealand, how Siumut politicians promoted free association and finally what contentions Denmark may have in a free association arrangement. This investigation focused on the three aspects of citizenship, foreign- and security policy and economy and was carried out on the basis of the United Nations framework on free association in the context of the theory of late sovereignty. Free association agreement was deemed possible, but several contentions exist between Greenland and Denmark to which negotiations would have to clear away. Abstract The Master’s thesis takes its point of departure in the Greenlandic Constitution Commission established in the spring of 2017. The commission was tasked with formulating two constitutions; one to apply for the Self-Government in the Danish Realm, and one to apply for an independent Greenlandic government. Moreover, the commission was tasked with exploring options for entering into free association. In my thesis, I set out to investigate whether it is possible to accommodate Greenland’s wish for independence if Denmark and Greenland were to venture into a free association relationship. I also sought to investigate which points of contention were likely to arise and how these could be cleared away. This was undertaken by analysing previous use of free association in the United States and its associated states the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau and New Zealand and its associated states the Cook Islands and Niue. Furthermore, I investigated how Siumut politicians employed free association as a concept in relation to independence and what functions they considered to be possible in free association. Lastly, I sought to uncover Danish contentions in a free association arrangement. These three analyses focused on the three aspects of citizenship, foreign- and security policy and economy, aspects that are rooted in academia and the source material employed in the thesis. Further, the thesis was conducted on the basis of a conceptual framework of free association defined by resolutions in the United Nations along with the theory of late sovereignty. This theory enabled the thesis to view sovereignty as a dynamic concept, wherein the degree of sovereignty for a state may vary depending on who possess the responsibility of the functions’ of state, but also as sovereignty being utilized in games where actors from a state can increase or decrease sovereignty depending on motives. On the basis of the above, the thesis discussed different aspects of free association suitable for a free association agreement between Denmark and Greenland, and other aspects, considered not as suitable, were discussed in regards to how these could be cleared away. The thesis found that Danish citizenship rights could be extended to Greenland, as long as they did not create confusion on the states’ responsibilities in international law, that if Greenland are to gain membership of international organisations there will have to be a clear distinction of the de jure and de facto responsibility of Greenlandic foreign policy and the de jure responsibility would have to reside in Greenland, that Denmark can carry out the Greenlandic responsibility of security, but it would be depending on Danish strategic interests in Greenland, and finally the economic relations could be trimmed down in its current form of a block grant into a trust fund that would supplement Greenland’s economy. Foreword: ...................................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2 Chapter 2: Focus points ............................................................................................................................ 7 Chapter 3: Research design ..................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 4: Concept definitions ............................................................................................................ 12 4.1 Sovereignty: .................................................................................................................................................... 12 4.2 Free association: ........................................................................................................................................... 15 4.2.1 United Nations definition: .................................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter 5: Method ................................................................................................................................... 20 5.1 Selection of sources: .................................................................................................................................... 22 5.2 Presentation and critique of material:.................................................................................................. 24 5.2.1 Academia ................................................................................................................................................................... 25 5.2.2 Workgroup on constitutional and international law: ............................................................................. 26 5.2.3 Sources on Siumut politicians: ......................................................................................................................... 28 Chapter 6: Analysis on previous use of free association ............................................................ 28 6.1 New Zealand in free association .............................................................................................................. 29 6.1.1 Historical overview ............................................................................................................................................... 29 6.1.2 Key aspects of focus points ................................................................................................................................ 31 6.1.3 Citizenship: ............................................................................................................................................................... 32 6.1.4 Foreign- and security policy: ............................................................................................................................ 34 6.1.5 Economy: ................................................................................................................................................................... 36 6.2 United States in free association: ............................................................................................................ 39 6.2.1 Historical overview:.............................................................................................................................................. 40 6.2.2 Key aspects of focus points ................................................................................................................................ 42 6.2.3 Citizenship: ............................................................................................................................................................... 43 6.2.4 Foreign- and security policy: ............................................................................................................................ 43 6.2.5 Economy: ................................................................................................................................................................... 46 6.3 Comparison of free association in the United States and New Zealand .................................... 51 6.3.1 Historical overview:.............................................................................................................................................. 51 6.3.2 Citizenship: ............................................................................................................................................................... 52 6.3.3 Foreign- and security policy: ............................................................................................................................ 52 6.3.4 Economy: ................................................................................................................................................................... 53 Chapter 7: Siumut politicians views on free association ........................................................... 54 Chapter 8: Danish contentions in free association ...................................................................... 64 8.1 Citizenship: ..................................................................................................................................................... 65 8.2 Foreign- and security policy ....................................................................................................................
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