Projects

Ongoing projects

2025-2028
USARCTIC (US Expansionism in the Arctic and the Future of the Danish Commonwealth)

FIA participants: Heini í Skorini

Since the Trump Administration took office in January 2025, US appetite for Greenland - and threats to conquer the island with military means - has triggered a historical crisis between Denmark and the US. This crisis may have far-reaching implications for the Danish commonwealth and the relationship between Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. While the Trump administration applies unprecedented external pressure, the Danish commonwealth is also shaped by internal tensions due to the independence movements and the quest for national self-determination in both the Faroes and Greenland. This project has two purposes. First, it will analyse American expansionism in the Arctic both historically and contemporarily. Second, it will assess potential implications for the Danish commonwealth.

2025-2028
The Faroe Islands, Greenland and the Great Powers: The Defence and Security Strategies of the Faroes and Greenland Amidst Great-Power Rivalry (FIGG)

FIA participants: Heini í Skorini, Tór Marni Weihe

In the context of enhanced great-power competition in the region, the Faroe Islands and Greenland experience growing pressure from rivalling great powers who seek to influence the region both economically and politically. The Faroe Islands have long-standing economic and fishery cooperation with Russia while China is a key export market for Greenland and a serious contender for new investments in Greenland. However, both Greenland and the Faroes are members of NATO via Danish membership. With a particular emphasis on the US as the most vital security ally, this project will examine new Faroese and Greenlandic security strategies, the relationship with Denmark and how increasing great-power rivalry shapes the opportunity structures for sub-state entities such as the Faroes and Greenland.

2025-2028
Resilience and State Control During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Faroe Islands – an in-depth Examination of Crisis Managment and Organising in the Local Government Sector

FIA participants: Jens Christian Svabo Justinussen, Rógvi Olavson

This PhD project is part of a larger research project, POLYGOV, based in Oslo. The project is a collaboration between nine Nordic universities across the five Nordic states and the three self-governing territories of Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Åland. The Faroese PhD project is an investigation of general Faroese crisis management and political governance during the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines how Faroese pandemic policy and strategy came into being, how this was implemented in the municipal sector, and how the policy was received by the public (legitimacy and acceptance). The project takes an institutional-organisational perspective on policy and policy implementation, with particular focus on the role of middle managers and street-level bureaucrats in public institutions within the municipal sector, examining their role in how Faroese pandemic policy was put into practice. The research will provide valuable knowledge about how crisis management and political governance in the Faroe Islands function in practice. This knowledge can be drawn upon when Faroese crisis management and crisis governance is reviewed and revised.

Concluded projects

2024
FASAD: The Faroe Islands, Small States and the Alliance Dilemma

FIA participants: Heini í Skorini, Tór Marni Weihe

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Western countries have been forced to reconsider their economic dependence on Russia. From the late 1970s, the Faroe Islands has adopted bilateral fishery agreements with Russia, and during the last 15 years, export to Russia has significantly increased. However, the growing economic dependence on Russia has triggered both internal and international criticism. What are the security implications of closer cooperation with Russia in a period characterised by growing great power rivalry in the region? To what extent is it possible to separate trade, economic policy and security policy? As part of the NATO alliance, what dilemmas confront Faroese authorities when economic interests and security considerations pull in different directions?

Download the policy brief From Crimea to Kyiv: Mapping Faroese-Russian Relations here.

2022-2023
New Nordic Security Network

FIA Participants: Heini í Skorini, Jens Christian Svabo Justinussen