The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs is proud to present Greenland, the US, and the Future of NATO, a conversation on diplomacy, the evolution of America’s role in NATO, and the possibility of changing international alignment regarding evolving American interests. Joining us will be Jacob Isbosethsen, Head of the Greenland Representation to the United States and Canada. He will be joined by Nunn School Professor of the Practice and Diplomat-in-Residence Ambassador (ret.) Charles Shapiro, who, among many others, was previously posted in Denmark. Together, they’ll discuss the status of the US-Danish relationship as it pertains to Greenland, and its implications for the NATO alliance at large.

This event is funded as part of the Nunn School’s Diplomats-in-Residence programming thanks to the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.

About the Speakers

Jacob Isbosethsen is the head of the Greenland Representation to the United States and Canada. He previously served as Head of Representation at the Greenland Representation in China, based in Beijing, with official side-accreditation to Japan, Korea, and Singapore. Prior to that, he served as Head of Representation in Iceland (2018–2021), Acting Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs in Nuuk (2017), and Head of Department at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (2015–2017). He also served as Legal Advisor in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (2013–2015), Secretary to the Greenland Representation to the EU in Brussels (2011–2013), and as Head of Section at the Ministry for Fisheries, Hunting and Agriculture (2008–2011).

Born and raised in Nuuk, Greenland, Isbosethsen holds a Master of Laws (Cand.jur., LLM) from Aarhus University, completed in 2008. He has also undertaken advanced training in national and international security and defense at the Royal Danish Defense Academy and has completed specialized courses on UNCLOS and Continental Shelf procedures. Isbosethsen has spent his entire career serving the Government of Greenland (Naalakkersuisut).

Ambassador (ret.) Charles Shapiro is a Professor of Practice at the Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, President Emeritus of the World Affairs Council of Atlanta, a senior advisor at the Pendleton Group, and co-founder of Art of Diplomacy Tours. 

During his 34-year career at the U.S. Department of State, Shapiro served as Ambassador to Venezuela, Acting Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere, and Coordinator for Cuban Affairs and was posted to Denmark, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago, Chile and Venezuela. 

In 2011, Shapiro became the president of the Institute of the Americas, a think tank at the University of California San Diego. In 2014, he became president of the World Affairs Council of Atlanta. While at the Council, he taught international business at the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. 

Shapiro has published op-eds in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Toronto Star, the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the Miami Herald, the San Diego Union Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times, and is a regular commentator on Latin America for news broadcasts including BBC, CBS, Sky News, CNN, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.