31 October 2022

How the Ukraine War Gave Canada & Denmark a Border

The Whisky War is over! It ended in June.


Hans Island ("Hans Ø" in Danish) is an arctic Island located between Canada’s Nunavut territory and Greenland, which is under Danish sovereignty. For 50 years, the Island was disputed between Canada and Denmark, and for decades the Island was known best for the ‘Whiskey War’, one of the friendliest geopolitical “conflicts” ever. But in June 2022, something remarkable happened: Both sides agreed to finally resolve the territorial dispute once and for all by splitting it in approximately half through a new border treaty. The timing of this Canadian-Danish agreement was no coincidence: Only months prior, Russia had started its’ infamous invasion of Ukraine. As a symbolic response to the war in Ukraine, Canada and Denmark decided it was time to send a signal to the world and particularly Russia by resolving a territorial dispute peacefully and in accordance with international law. But what exactly is Hans Island? Is it worth anything? Why wasn’t it resolved earlier? And did this symbolic gesture really have the effect the Canadians and Danes hoped for? We’ll explore exactly that in this video!

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