The Greenland Dilemma

The Greenland Dilemma
Author: Martin Breum
Publisher: Royal Danish Defence College
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2015-05-20
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 8771470999

This book is about Greenland’s rapidly changing role in the world and about it’s complex connections to Denmark, its former colonizer. It is about Greenland’s possible secession from the Kingdom of Denmark, oil, uranium and the difficulties that Greenlanders and Danes often have when they try to talk about their common past and Greenland’s place in the new, global future. The first part of this book builds on my travels and encounters with Greenland’s politicians, fishermen, schoolteachers and intellectuals – including my old classmate from Maniitsoq, who became a very wise vicar in her hometown and now appears in chapter 3. Through all these conversations I learned just how dramatic the present wave of changes in Greenland are. Never before did I understand just how complex the desire for increased independence is, or how dramatic the clashes between old and new are, or how volcanic the debate over which path to choose for the future can be. An insight into these local discussions is surely a prerequisite if one wants to understand the broader discussion about Greenland’s future relations to Denmark and its changing role in the world. The second part deals with hard-core politics – about mining and oil, and about the rest of the world’s – including China’s - interest in Greenland’s oil, gas, uranium, rare earths, gold and other riches. This part of the book grapples with the political in-fights in Greenland and with the power struggles between Denmark and Greenland over resources, foreign policy and identity. Legally, for half a century, Greenland has been part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but also increasingly a very self-conscious one of the sort. My observations flow from my work as a journalist in Greenland and Denmark over the past years, where I worked for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation and other media outlets. I am Danish, I lived only two years in Greenland as a teenager, but I have come there often in later years. My errand is not to forward any opinion on Greenland’s position as a part of the Danish realm, nor do I pass judgment on the popular vision of future secession. If anything, I hope to throw light on the complexities involved and to encourage more people to take part in this important debate by providing detail, real human beings, facts and observations from places that would, for most people outside Greenland, be somewhat cumbersome to reach.

The Swedish Nuclear Dilemma

The Swedish Nuclear Dilemma
Author: William D. Nordhaus
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 180
Release: 2014-04-04
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1135891389

Renowned economist William Nordhaus has developed many innovative approaches for analyzing complex environmental questions. He applies them to the possible phaseout of nuclear power in Sweden in The Swedish Nuclear Dilemma: Energy and the Environment. While making a major contribution to that debate, this book has value that extends well beyond the Swedish issue, to the careful and well-informed consideration of environmental and energy questions that industrialized nations and developing regions now face. It is essential for anyone interested in nuclear-power issues and climate change. The Swedish parliament has moved closer to eliminating nuclear energy, even while repeating commitments to reduce the greenhouse-gas emissions associated with fossil fuels. Nordhaus's Swedish Energy and Environmental Policy (SEEP) model quantifies the economic results of such a path. He analyzes the impact of factors such as deregulation of electricity generation, global climate-change policies, the decline of Sweden's economic growth, and the rethinking of its welfare state. He also sets the stage for more informed analysis of similarly difficult issues where economic and environmental goals clash.

The Hazards of Good Fortune

The Hazards of Good Fortune
Author: Seth Greenland
Publisher: Europa Editions
Total Pages: 503
Release: 2018-08-21
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1609454634

“An entertaining tale rich in schadenfreude as bad things happen to a hapless billionaire” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Jay Gladstone was born to privilege. He is a civic leader and a generous philanthropist, as well as the owner of an NBA team. But in today’s New York, even a wealthy man’s life can spin out of control, no matter the money or influence he possesses. Jay sees himself as a moral man, determined not to repeat his father’s mistakes. He would rather focus on his unstable second marriage and his daughter, Aviva, than worry about questions of race or privilege. However, he moves through a sensitive and aware world: that of Dag Maxwell, the black star forward, and white police officer Russell Plesko, who makes a decision that has resonating consequences—particularly for a DA whose hopes for a future in politics will rest on an explosive prosecution. Set during Barack Obama’s presidency, this artful novel illuminates contemporary America and does not shy away from questions about our scalding social divide—why is conversation about race so fraught, to what degree is the justice system impartial, and does great wealth inoculate those who have it?—and explores the aftermath of unforgivable errors and the unpredictability of the court of public opinion. “Greenland takes a Dickensian delight in letting the plot sprawl with parallels, digressions, false leads, and twists.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A wild and funny page-turner of a novel that grabs you and doesn’t let go.” —Larry David

Cold Rush

Cold Rush
Author: Martin Breum
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2018-09-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0773554424

The heating Arctic has become a key issue in global politics. While Canada, China, Russia, and the United States increasingly send icebreakers, submarines, and other vessels to the Arctic, the ice itself continues to recede. Trade routes that kings and explorers have sought after for centuries are opening for the first time in human history, offering greater opportunities for human traffic, cultural exchange, science, the extraction of resources, and the transfer of goods from Asia to North America and Europe. With more Arctic land mass than any other country apart from Russia, Canada is a major player in the region, eagerly defending its sovereignty over its vast Arctic Archipelago.

China's Dilemma

China's Dilemma
Author: Ligang Song
Publisher: ANU E Press
Total Pages: 446
Release: 2008-07-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1921536039

China's Dilemma - Economic Growth, the Environment and Climate Change examines the challenges China will have to confront in order to maintain rapid growth while coping with the global financial turbulence, some rising socially destabilising tensions such as income inequality, an over-exploited environment and the long-term pressures of global warming. China's Dilemma discusses key questions that will have an impact on China's growth path and offers some in-depth analyses as to how China could confront these challenges. The authors address the effect of the global credit crunch and financial shocks on China's economic growth; China's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and emissions reduction schemes; the environmental consequences of foreign direct investment in China; the relationship between air pollution and mortality; the effect of climate change on agricultural output; the coal industry's compliance with tougher regulations; and the constraints water shortages may impose on China's economy. It also emphasises the importance of managing the rising demand for energy to moderate oil price increases and placating domestic and international concerns about global warming. In the thirty years since China started on the path of reform, it has emerged as one of the largest and most dynamic economies in the world. This carries with it the responsibility to balance the requirements of key industries that are driving its development with the need to ensure that its growth is both equitable and sustainable. China's Dilemma highlights key lessons learned from the past thirty years of reform in order to pave the way for balanced and sustained growth in the future.

The State-Building Dilemma in Afghanistan

The State-Building Dilemma in Afghanistan
Author: Haqmal Daudzai
Publisher: Verlag Barbara Budrich
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2021-09-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3966659506

Nach fast zwei Jahrzehnten Krieg unterzeichnete die Trump-Regierung im Februar 2020 ein Abkommen mit den Taliban, wonach die Truppen der USA und ihrer NATO-Verbündeten Afghanistan innerhalb der nächsten Monate verlassen müssen. Dieses Abkommen ebnet auch den Weg für innerafghanische Gespräche zwischen der von den USA unterstützten Islamischen Republik Afghanistan und der militanten Gruppe der Taliban. Dieses Buch bietet einen kritischen Überblick über die militärische, friedens- und staatsbildende Interventionen der USA und der NATO seit 2001 in Afghanistan. Darüber hinaus stellt es auf der Grundlage gesammelter Feldinterviews die afghanische Wahrnehmung und den afghanischen Diskurs zu Themen wie Demokratie, Islam, Frauenrechte, formelle und informelle Regierungsführung, ethnische Teilung und die staatliche demokratische Regierungsgestaltung auf nationaler und subnationaler Ebene dar.

An Indigenous Parliament?

An Indigenous Parliament?
Author: Kathrin Wessendorf
Publisher: IWGIA
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN: 9788791563102

The indigenous peoples of the Arctic have achieved some of the most comprehensive self-government arrangements in the world. These are reflected upon in this collection of articles, based on discussions between indigenous peoples in Russia and other parts of the Circumpolar North. Decision-making and political participation are of major concern for indigenous peoples in all parts of the Circumpolar North. There are many positive examples of indigenous political institutions, land claims and self-government agreements in the region, and indigenous peoples have recognised that they can learn from each other. Over the past decade, indigenous peoples in Russia have attempted to gain rights and influence over political decisions concerning their lands and lives. In some provinces of the Russian Federation, they have achieved a certain level of influence over - and an advisory role in - political institutions. And yet in others, they remain voiceless. This volume includes a number of articles on the legal situation of indigenous peoples in Russia and on their political participation at federal and provincial level, along with case studies from Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland and Sápmi. This book was first published jointly by RAIPON and IWGIA in Russian in 2003.

Reclaiming Participatory Governance

Reclaiming Participatory Governance
Author: Adrian Bua
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2023-05-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000881091

Reclaiming Participatory Governance offers empirical and theoretical perspectives on how the relationship between social movements and state institutions is emerging and developing through new modes of participatory governance. One of the most interesting political developments of the past decade has been the adoption by social movements of strategies seeking to change political institutions through participatory governance. These strategies have flourished in a variety of contexts, from anti-austerity and pro-social justice protests in Spain, to movements demanding climate transition and race equality in the UK and the USA, to constitutional reforms in Belgium and Iceland. The chief ambition and challenge of these new forms of participatory governance is to institutionalise the prefigurative politics and social justice values that inspired them in the first place, by mobilising the bureaucracy to respond to their claims for reforms and rights. The authors of this volume assess how participatory governance is being transformed and explore the impact of such changes, providing timely critical reflections on: the constraints imposed by cultural, economic and political power relations on these new empowered participatory spaces; the potential of this new "wave" of participatory democracy to reimagine the relationship between citizens and traditional institutions towards more radical democratic renewal; where and how these new democratisation efforts sit within the representative state; and how tensions between the different demands of lay citizens, organised civil society and public officials are being managed. This book will be an important resource for students and academics in political science, public administration and social policy, as well as activists, practitioners and policymakers interested in supporting innovative engagement for deeper social transformation. Chapter 11 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Claims for Secession and Federalism

Claims for Secession and Federalism
Author: Alberto López-Basaguren
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 576
Release: 2019-01-05
Genre: Law
ISBN: 3319597078

This volume, incorporating the work of scholars from various parts of the globe, taps the wisdom of the Westphalian (and post-Westphalian) world on the use of federalism and secession as tools for managing regional conflicts. The debate has rarely been more important than it is right now, especially in light of recent events in Catalonia, Scotland, Québec and the Sudan - all unique political contexts raising similar questions about how best to balance competing claims for autonomy, interdependence, political voice, and exit. Exploring how various nations have encountered comparable conflicts, some more and some less successfully, the book broadens the perspectives of scholars, government officials, and citizens struggling to resolve sovereignty conflicts with a full appreciation of the underlying principles they represent.

The Legal Status and Perspectives of Ethnic Minorities in European States

The Legal Status and Perspectives of Ethnic Minorities in European States
Author: Magdalena Butrymowicz
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2022-03-02
Genre: Law
ISBN: 179364604X

The way we exist in society defines our place in its social structures and reaffirms our belonging, identity, and dignity. Europe is a continent characterized by many internal conflicts and ongoing struggles inside societies. The battlefield is society itself, where state law clashes with ethnic law over the very identity of society. Exploring debates from Scandinavia to Spain about the religious and political autonomy and freedom, this book explains that the violation of the rights of ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples, such as the Sami and Basque peoples, remains a problem in Europe. In addition to these political conflicts, Magdalena Butrymowicz analyzes the legal and religious culture within minority ethnic structures themselves. Ultimately, this book raises timely questions about the balance between state control and legal autonomy for ethnic minorities across Europe advocating for a new definition of ethnic law as the right of ethnic minorities, creating their legal and ethnic identity. The book will interest anyone exploring the dynamic between European states and the ethnic minorities that live in them.