From the Wall Street Journal, November 25:
As the island pursues independence, the U.S. can step in to safeguard Western interests from growing global threats.
During President Donald Trump’s first term, the foreign-policy elite expressed dismay at his public flirtation with “buying” Greenland from Denmark. In his second term, Mr. Trump should pick up right where he left off.
Greenland’s strategic location in the North Atlantic has made its acquisition a topic of discussion among U.S. strategists since the 19th century. Then-Secretary of State William Seward first pursued buying the world’s largest island in 1867. Talk about annexation surfaced anew during World War II, when Denmark surrendered to Nazi Germany and the U.S. occupied Greenland.
Today, despite the guffaws of foreign-policy mandarins, recent changes to the North Atlantic’s geopolitical reality make a formal relationship between Washington and Nuuk—Greenland’s capital city—necessary.
First, Greenlanders are moving toward independence from Denmark. The 2009 Greenland Self-Government Act establishes significant autonomy for the island, including some leeway to conduct its own foreign affairs. Greenland’s February 2024 foreign, security and defense policy says independence is the ultimate objective. But Greenland is the least densely populated political entity in the world. If it separates from Denmark, it would be responsible for its own security, a task it is ill-equipped to handle.*
This is a grave concern given the second important development: Russia and China are threatening the status quo in the Arctic. Moscow has claimed significant chunks of the Arctic Sea, including inside Greenland’s Exclusive Economic Zone. Russian survey ships have encroached on Greenland’s waters, and Russia is expanding its Arctic bases and formidable icebreaker fleet. China has declared itself a “near-Arctic state,” established a shipping network called the “Polar Silk Road” to bind Arctic communities closer to Beijing’s economic and political agenda, and built its own fleet of icebreakers.
Finally, Greenland is believed to have significant natural resources, including gold, silver, copper, oil, uranium and rare earth minerals. This is an opportunity for adversaries to exploit the resources with little regard for local communities or environmental concerns. An independent Greenland would be unable to resist coercive extraction of the kind practiced by China and Russia.
The U.S. can offer an option that preserves Greenland’s sovereignty while protecting it from malign actors....
....MORE
Previously:
June 2018
Chinese Investment In Greenland and Iceland
August 2019
"President Trump Eyes a New Real-Estate Purchase: Greenland"
December 2019
Denmark Puts Mineral-Rich Greenland Top of its National Security Agenda, Ahead of Terrorism and Cybercrime.
....Now back to Greenland.
Trump tried to allay fears re: his oft-times questionable design sensibilities:
I promise not to do this to Greenland! pic.twitter.com/03DdyVU6HA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2019
