DARE - Because Entrepreneurs Do

Does political climate influence economy, or is it the money which control politics and shape up policies? Difficult to say, but time and again, it has been proved money makes a lot of difference to the political climate and policies. This seems to be proving itself once again, and this time in Greenland - the secluded Arctic island which has been under Danish control for close to 300 years.

The Greenland natives, the Inuits, have decided through a referendum to grant local self government additional powers of self-governance over domestic affairs. The island witnessed a turnout of over 70 percent in the referendum, and over 76 percent voters voted for more self-governance powers.

This has given Greenland, which has a population of only 56,000, its most significant taste of independence since Danish rule was established in 1721. Denmark now remains only in charge of foreign affairs, security and financial policy. In addition, unlike Denmark, Greenland has opted to remain out of the European Union, as the Inuits do not find any resemblance to Europe and Europeans. A new law is expected to be in place soon permitting Greenlanders to be recognized as a separate people under international law and make the Eskimo-Inuit tongue known as Greenlandic the island's official language.
To many these are the signs of Greenland moving towards independence, which, in turn, is expected to bring prosperity to the island population, on the lines of another Arctic country Norway.

This prosperity is slated to come through the exploitation of the huge oil and gas and mineral reserves Greenland is supposed to have. Seismological analyses by experts in the US, Canada and Greenland have pinpointed enormous oil reserves, especially off the west coast. EU governments estimate that Greenland's oil reserves are at least 110 billion tons. Two smaller fields west of Nuuk (the capital of Greenland), with reserves of about 2 billion tons, are believed to contain as much oil as the amount produced in the North Sea over the last 40 years. Eight other fields are located off the coast of Disko Bay, at the mouth of the island's famous Kangia ice fjord, with its picturesque icebergs.

The potentials of exploiting these, ironically, have been unlocked because of the global warming. Arctic circles are increasingly getting ice-free in summers, and this is what raises the hopes of Greenland to do an economic metamorphosis. New relationship norms, after all, dictate that revenues from oil and minerals will be split between Denmark and Greenland and will be deducted from the subsidy of $637 million, that Denmark provides Greenland every year. According to calculations done by the treasury chief of Greenland, if oil revenues exceed 6.5 billion kroner (about €1 billion or $1.28 billion), the island will have practically bought its freedom.
This can prove a real good news for Greenland, as it is ravaged by low rates of university and college education, high rates of alcoholism and domestic violence, and high unemployment rates and suicide rates.

When this happens is still a question, but even Greenlanders seem to be aware that it is no longer possible for Denmanrk to decide on their independence. With tacit support from Canada and the US, it seems this time round economic interests will dictate next round of politics. And, it is getting clearer, it is just a matter of time when Greenland will be a full fledged independent nation, though it would be interesting to see how a big country (Is many times bigger than many European countries in size) with a meager population manages its international presence. Denmark seems to have resigned to the fact.