Arctic eTalks

Arctic eTalks is hosted by “The Watch” Command Magazine, United States Northern Command, United States European Command, and the Center for Arctic Security and Resilience.

Arctic eTalks is a monthly forum for open discussion (non-attribution) on key issues affecting the Circumpolar Arctic for academics, defense and security professionals, and military leaders from Canada, Finland, Iceland, Kingdom of Denmark (Greenland and Faroe Islands), Norway, Sweden, and the United States

Sponsores Include:

• Royal Danish Defence College
• Ministry of Defence: United Kingdom
• William J. Perry Center, National Defense University
• NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
• Norwegian Institute for International Affairs
• Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies
• North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network (NAADSN)
• United States Coast Guard

Arctic eTalks  for February 2021 featured Sara Olsvig

Biography: Sara Olsvig is a Ph.D. Fellow at Ilisimatusarfik, the University of Greenland, and the current chairwoman of Greenland’s Human Rights Council. Olsvig is an assigned member of the Constitutional Commission of Greenland. She served as member of the Parliament of Denmark (2011 - 2015) and the Parliament of Greenland (2013 - 2018) and was leader of the political party Inuit Ataqatigiit (2014 – 2018). Olsvig was Vice Premier and Minister of Social Affairs, Families, Gender Equality and Justice in the Government of Greenland from 2016 to 2018 and was the Chairperson of the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region from 2013 to 2014. Olsvig holds an MSc in Anthropology and has previously worked as Executive Director for Inuit Circumpolar Council Greenland, to which she today is a delegate. Sara is Inuk and lives in Nuuk, Greenland with her partner and their children.

Academic readings:

• Takahashi M. (2019) Greenland’s Quest for Autonomy and the Political Dynamics Surrounding the
  Thule Air Base. In: Takahashi M. (eds) The Influence of Sub-state Actors on National Security.
  Springer Polar Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01677-7_3
• DIIS Policy Brief Olsvig, S. & Gad, U.P. (2020): Outdated lines of communication undermine
  legitimacy https://www.diis.dk/en/research/outdated-lines-of-communication-undermine-legitimacy

Forthcoming publications:

• Olsvig S. & Gad, U.P. (forthcoming): ’Grønland som udenrigs- og sikkerhedspolitisk aktør’, in
  Rahbek-Clemmensen & Sørensen (eds.) Sikkerhedspolitik i Arktis og Nordatlanten. Published 2021
  by DJØF Publishing
• Jacobsen, M. and Olsvig, S. (forthcoming). From Peary to Pompeo: The history of United States’
  securitizations of Greenland. In: Jacobsen, M., Gad, U.P and Wæver, O. (eds.). Greenland in Arctic
  security: Entangled (de)securitization dynamics under climatic thaw and geopolitical freeze.

 

Presentation Recording: (recommend downloading the slides first):