The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown: How Climate Change is Shaping Greenland's Nation Branding Strategy

Nation prestige has been a constant feature that statesmen throughout time have tried to project onto other nations to get some sort of benefit or another. Sometimes through the powers of armies other times through dazzling riches. Nowadays, national governments have expanded the "prestige" into "brand" and are using a softer tool to enhance the power of their armies and gather riches. And that tool is marketing. Nation branding is a first a concept, but more important a practice that has emerged from the clashing of the diplomatic world with the entrepreneurial mindset.

Nation branding is a difficult thing to do and coordinate even for stable, strong democracies and economies, but it is proportionately more difficult when it is done for a sub-structure, or a non-sovereign state. In addition to sever diplomatic restrictions, non-sovereign states are often characterized by political instability, military intervention, poor economic development or social hardship. In their quest for survival, differentiation, or necessity to fly under the radar, non-sovereign states do not have the freedom to engage on the official international scene and can be banned from membership in international organizations.

The melting of the ice caps has raised the profile of the Arctic and has empowered Greenland with tools that can boost its economy and transform it into a regional player. The paper examines how climate change offer opportunities for Greenland in terms of public diplomacy, tourism, exports and foreign direct investments. It performs a nation-brand audit on Greenland's up-to-date marketing efforts and offers strategic recommendations for future developments.