Inuit diplomacy in the global ERA: The strengths of multilateral internationalism

Abstract

In this article we extend the meaning of traditional diplomacy to include the multiple levels of diplomatic activities that can exist inside states, in federations, and in states where Indigenous peoples are present, and to include also the diplomatic activities of non‐governmental political entities who intervene internationally. We review the diplomatic activity of Canadian Inuit, identifying continuities in their diplomatic practices from the times before there was extensive contact with other peoples, through colonial times, to the present. As a transnational people relying entirely upon peaceful means, they have been able to reframe the colonial logic in the Arctic using four strategies: (1) forming a transnational Inuit polity cutting across four nationstates, but directly challenging none of them; (2) creating an Arctic region based on cooperation between nation‐states; (3) establishing the Inuit as an international people; and, (4) negotiating self‐governing arrangements in most of the Inuit regions. These achievements are built on the successful adaptation of practices present in traditional circumpolar societies, in a fashion that should recommend them to circumpolar nation‐states concerned with building a peaceful circumpolar region.