Polar Research and Policy Initiative

Two weeks ago, on 22 April 2026, PRPI Director Dr Dwayne Menezes moderated a panel on the strategic complexity of the Arctic at the Lisbon Arctic Conference, bringing together three brilliant speakers:
* Professor Christopher Penny of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University
* Professor Katarina Gårdfeldt, Director-General of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat (Polarforskningssekretariatet)
* Professor João Canário, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, and a member of the Coordinating Committee of the Programa Polar Português.

The Arctic Conference in Lisbon was really quite magnificent, both in the calibre of speakers it assembled and in the range of topics it covered. It reflects the growing interest in the Arctic in Portugal, a cause to which we, at Polar Research and Policy Initiative, have been committed for a few years now.

Congratulations to the hosts and partners of the Arctic Conference:
Atlantic Centre
Instituto Diplomático
Embassy of Sweden in Lisbon
Embassy of Canada to Portugal
Embassy of Denmark in Lisbon
Embaixada da Finlândia em Lisboa / Suomen suurlähetystö Lissabon
Norwegian Embassy in Lisbon
Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas - ISCSP/ULisboa

A postcard from Greenland, sent by our director Dr Dwayne Menezes:

Deep in Nuup Kangerlua, the second largest fjord system in Greenland. Stretching from the Greenland Ice Sheet to the Labrador Sea, it is fed by three tidewater outlet glaciers - Kangiata Nunaata Sermia, Akullersuup Sermia and Narsap Sermia - and is home to abandoned settlements such as Kangeq and Qoornoq that I have very much enjoyed visiting during my long stays in Greenland.

From our Director Dr Dwayne Menezes:

As my stay in Nuuk draws to a close, I have been spending more time by its elysian waterfront, ambling along its icy streets and admiring the bright-coloured timber-framed houses that adorn its sloping fields of glistering white.

As I sit on a rustic wooden bench and stare into the distance, the first movements I encounter are those of ravens, rock ptarmigans, ducks and eiders going about their business, as well as blocks of ice of varying shapes and hues floating along at a much more leisurely pace. Every now and then, there is also the motor boat passing by, a group of friends climbing the wooden boat in front of the old boat yard, and locals and tourists visiting one of the two museums and seaside cafés, or headed to the impressive boardwalk.

As you can imagine, what I had anticipated was a perfectly ordinary weekend in a customarily extraordinary place. The only thing especially noteworthy about Friday evening was the dramatic sunset, which you can see in the first image. As I returned to the waterfront on Saturday morning, there were again only two remarkable events: the same halcyon setting now had a relatively large iceberg perched right in the middle as you can see in the second image, and the national museum was hosting a seminar on sewing with gut skin, which I found completely fascinating. I then sat in my favourite local café and embarked on multiple rounds of chai latte. Again, a perfectly lovely yet entirely ordinary day.

But then the extraordinary happens.

I start hearing accounts of a US submarine being in the waters near Nuuk, which seemed odd given how secretive such missions tend to be. I then hear that the submarine surfaced in the waters around eight miles from Nuuk, which seemed odder still. A few minutes later, I learnt that there was a medical emergency, and that Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command had airlifted a US submariner for treatment at a hospital in Nuuk. How remarkable it was, I thought, that the US could still undertake military activity in Greenland with consent, and that Greenland and Denmark would still come to its aid with surety, despite all the avoidable hullabaloo of recent months!

I suppose I drew great comfort in that moment to see the strength of this old and crucial alliance between two allies I care about prevail over the unhelpful and dangerous rhetoric that risked undermining the Western Alliance as a whole.

Yet, later in the evening, I must say I was rather shocked and disappointed to hear Trump not thank Greenland and Denmark for the medical help they provided a US sailor but claim rather oddly that he was “going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there.”

Forgive me for saying this aloud, but how are allies expected to navigate situations where the differences between allies relate not to questions of what constitutes a threat or a response, but to perceptions of reality itself.

Let me reiterate this point: when I set out to build an Arctic think-tank 10 years ago, one of my principal motivations was to establish consensus among allies about the strategic importance of the Arctic and how best to secure the region from the nefarious influence and activities of what NATO would consider adversaries. Yet, 10 years later, foreign and security policy analysts find themselves in the middle of the Cirque du Soleil trying to come up with geopolitical backstories to make sense of acts by an ally which evoke “Wow, did that really happen?” as a much more instinctive response.

I have such great admiration for the Prime Minister of Greenland, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who calmly posted today, “It’s going to be a no thank you from here. President Trump's idea to send an American hospital ship here to Greenland is noted. But we have a public health system where treatment is free for citizens. It's a deliberate choice. And a basic part of our society. It's not like that in the United States, where it costs money to go to the doctor. We are always open to dialogue and collaboration. Also with the U.S. But talk to us now instead of just coming up with more or less random outbursts on social media. Dialogue and cooperation require respect that decisions about our country are made at home.”

The US, in recent weeks, has gone through great pains to clarify that it simply seeks to defend, strengthen and save Western civilisation. But surely it must acknowledge that this gargantuan task would require reliable, stable and predictable allies, whose words are measured, whose actions are considered, whose policies are not hostage to whims or impulses, and whose tools of statecraft are not so unseemly as the bullying of elected leaders in Europe on social media and electoral interference in European democracies. As a passionate Yankophile all my life, I can only hope…!

From our Director Dr Dwayne Menezes:

Nuuk at twilight.

Last week, our cross-party delegation from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Greenland in the UK Parliament met with their Greenlandic counterparts - Members of the Inatsisartut (Parliament of Greenland) representing parties across the political spectrum (Demokraatit, Inuit Ataqatigiit, Siumut and Naleraq) and also the Foreign and Security Policy Committee. A mutually enriching exchange between Parliamentarians reflecting the health of our vibrant democracies!

From our Director Dr Dwayne Menezes:

"On this day 10 years ago, recognising the growing strategic importance of the Arctic, we launched Polar Research and Policy Initiative (PRPI) in London.

As we entered what I call The Arctic Century, I believed that the region would fast become the epicentre of geopolitics in the 21st century - with Greenland in particular emerging as the Global Kingmaker. At the same time, the Arctic, to me, was always more than the sum of national interests and rivalries; I had fallen so head over heels in love with the region and its people that PRPI has always been just as much a neverending love letter to the Arctic as it has been an Arctic think-tank.

Given how central a role Greenland played in our origin story, I was delighted to have the former Prime Minister of Greenland, Aleqa Hammond, as the chief guest at our launch in London 10 years ago. You can imagine then how happy I am to be in Nuuk today as PRPI turns 10, and how much happier still it makes me that I could bring in this important milestone over a splendid dinner so kindly hosted by Aleqa Hammond.

Here we are on 18 February 2016 and then 10 years later on 18 February 2026. Happy 10th Anniversary, Polar Research and Policy Initiative!"

On 12 May 2025, the Kingdom of Denmark assumed the Chairship of the Arctic Council for the two-year period 2025-2027. In Nuuk last week, our APPG Greenland delegation had an excellent meeting with the Kingdom of Denmark’s chairship team: Kenneth Høegh, Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials of the Arctic Council; Inuuteq Holm Olsen, who serves as Greenland’s de facto Senior Arctic Official; Camilla Aviaja Olsen, the Chair of the Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG); and Daniel Lyberth Hauptmann, the KoD’s Head of Delegation to the SDWG. We were also joined by the brilliant Sara Olsvig, the current Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council.

With the Arctic in focus at a global level, it was a timely opportunity to learn about the Chairship priorities; understand how Arctic cooperation continues at this time; and explore the UK’s contribution to the work of the principal intergovernmental forum in the Arctic.

A little over a month ago, Greenland’s Energy Minister Naaja Nathanielsen flew to London where she addressed MPs, Lords and the media about the geopolitical storm that had engulfed Greenland - and left the audience completely enraptured. The sheer level of participation and engagement at the event, hosted in the UK Parliament by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Greenland, signalled clearly how Parliamentarians of all stripes in the UK took a great interest in events unfolding in our Northern neighbourhood.

We are grateful, hence, that four MPs from four different political parties - SNP, Plaid Cymru, Labour and the Conservatives - acted upon this interest and travelled to Greenland last week where they met Minister Nathanielsen again to learn more about the situation on the ground and explore avenues to strengthen the bilateral relationship. It was an honour for Polar Research and Policy Initiative to facilitate this timely and historic visit as the Secretariat of the APPG.

Greenland may have a small population but it benefits from an enormously capable political leadership - and it is always impressive to see how members of different parties seem willing to rise above political differences and work together as a united front in the national interest.

It was a pleasure for our cross-party delegation to meet the President of the Inatsisartut (Parliament of Greenland) Kim Kielsen and Director of the Inatsisartut Steen Lynge earlier this week, express our solidarity with the people of Greenland and present the Greenlandic Parliament with the newly registered Greenland tartan as a symbol of that solidarity.

Few people have had as eventful a year as Greenland’s phenomenal Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt. Our cross-party delegation from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Greenland in the UK Parliament was delighted to meet her, reaffirm our solidarity with the people of Greenland and present the Government of Greenland with the Greenland tartan.