Denmark, Canada Resolve Dispute Over Arctic Isle

Photo: Royal Danish Navy/SCANPIX/AFP [via Al Jazeera]

The Facts

  • On Tues., Canada and Denmark signed an agreement to end a 49-year territorial dispute over Hans Island, which is located in the center of the border between Canada and Greenland - an autonomous territory of Denmark.

  • The dispute began in 1973 when Canada and Denmark agreed to create a border through Nares Strait, halfway between the two nations, but couldn't agree on which country would have sovereignty over the island


The Spin

Narrative A

This is how you properly handle an international dispute. In a time when we have witnessed so much war and destruction, Canada and Denmark worked out the dispute through diplomacy and peaceful negotiations. This should send a message to the rest of the globe that taking up arms isn't always the answer.

Narrative B

The so-called "whiskey war" was never really a conflict at all, but more of a diplomatic afterthought. The island has no mineral resources or anything else of interest, and the back-and-forth between the two nations was largely good-natured.


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