The Race to Take Greenland
The day the VP went to the frigid north, the president told the press, “We have to have Greenland. It’s not a question of, ‘Do you think we can do without it?’ We can’t.” Vance’s speech to US soldiers in the Arctic, however, focused more on developing a stronger security alliance. “[W]hen the president says, ‘We’ve got to have Greenland,’ he’s saying this island is not safe.” The territory, said Vance, would fare “better coming under the United States security umbrella.” Is he wrong?
Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, has an estimated 1.5 million tons of rare-earth element reserves, according to the US Geological Survey. The US Energy Information Administration estimates the region has more than a tenth of the world’s undiscovered oil and nearly a third of undiscovered natural gas. Melting ice in the region is making mining for rare earth deposits possible and creating usable shipping routes that can decrease travel time between Asia and Europe and reduce costs for transport. The island is in a prime location for access to Arctic shipping routes, especially the Northeast Sea Route, which runs along Russia’s Arctic coast, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“[W]e are closely monitoring the development of the situation,” said Putin at a forum on March 27, “building an adequate response line, increasing the combat capabilities of the armed forces and modernizing military infrastructure facilities.”
“If you look at Greenland right now,” said Trump, speaking from the Oval Office on Friday, “if you look at the waterways, you have Chinese and Russian ships all over the place.” He’s not kidding. For years, Russia has “prioritized an expanded presence in the Arctic through airfield renovation, the addition of bases, troop training, and the development of a network of military defense systems on the northern border,” explains The National Interest, an online publication focusing on foreign policy and national security. Meanwhile, “Beijing has boosted its economic presence in the area, including investment in mining operations in Greenland.” Much of the territory’s untapped resources include rare earth minerals vital to technology like smartphones.
All this to say, “The geopolitical dynamics involving Greenland, Russia, China, and the United States will influence the future of global trade and international relations not just in the High North but in the larger play for global advantage among the three great powers,” explains The National Interest.
What to do?
The Art Isn’t Always in the Deal
On Thursday, the day before the VP went to Pituffik Space Base and warned US soldiers about China and Russia’s “extraordinary interest in Arctic passageways,” Russian President Vladimir Putin called Trump’s plans to take control of the territory “serious” and having “long-standing historical roots.” He said it would be a mistake to “believe that this is some kind of extravagant talk of the new American administration.”
Trump is not only serious, it seems, but he is also not the first chief executive to show such an interest. President Andrew Jackson suggested buying it in 1832. During the tail end of the Second World War, the Truman administration offered to buy it for a hundred million dollars in gold. Still, Greenlandic and Danish officials are not interested. Trump insists America will “go as far as we have to go” to acquire the world’s largest island. Maybe he’s just toying with the Danes and Greenlanders, seeing how far he can push them and what they might be willing to do to avoid “by any means necessary.”
A recent poll commissioned by the Danish newspaper Berlingske and Greenlandic daily Sermitsiaq showed that 85% of Greenlanders oppose joining the US, and 45% see Trump’s interest as a threat. At the same time, “the Danish government faces increasing discontent from the Greenlandic people over what islanders view as neglect and underinvestment from Copenhagen, which has resulted in the decay of what limited infrastructure does exist across the island,” explains RealClear Politics. “So it follows that the Danes may be on edge as President Trump calls for Greenlanders’ right to self-determination.”
However, “Greenlanders want to detach from Denmark,” said Liberty Nation News Editor-in-Chief Mark Angelides, “but only if their standard of living can be assured. And that’s where dealmaking becomes the only viable obstacle to Trump’s plans.” Hear him out:
The day the VP went to the frigid north, the president told the press, “We have to have Greenland. It’s not a question of, ‘Do you think we can do without it?’ We can’t.” Vance’s speech to US soldiers in the Arctic, however, focused more on developing a stronger security alliance. “[W]hen the president says, ‘We’ve got to have Greenland,’ he’s saying this island is not safe.” The territory, said Vance, would fare “better coming under the United States security umbrella.” Is he wrong?
Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, has an estimated 1.5 million tons of rare-earth element reserves, according to the US Geological Survey. The US Energy Information Administration estimates the region has more than a tenth of the world’s undiscovered oil and nearly a third of undiscovered natural gas. Melting ice in the region is making mining for rare earth deposits possible and creating usable shipping routes that can decrease travel time between Asia and Europe and reduce costs for transport. The island is in a prime location for access to Arctic shipping routes, especially the Northeast Sea Route, which runs along Russia’s Arctic coast, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“[W]e are closely monitoring the development of the situation,” said Putin at a forum on March 27, “building an adequate response line, increasing the combat capabilities of the armed forces and modernizing military infrastructure facilities.”
“If you look at Greenland right now,” said Trump, speaking from the Oval Office on Friday, “if you look at the waterways, you have Chinese and Russian ships all over the place.” He’s not kidding. For years, Russia has “prioritized an expanded presence in the Arctic through airfield renovation, the addition of bases, troop training, and the development of a network of military defense systems on the northern border,” explains The National Interest, an online publication focusing on foreign policy and national security. Meanwhile, “Beijing has boosted its economic presence in the area, including investment in mining operations in Greenland.” Much of the territory’s untapped resources include rare earth minerals vital to technology like smartphones.
All this to say, “The geopolitical dynamics involving Greenland, Russia, China, and the United States will influence the future of global trade and international relations not just in the High North but in the larger play for global advantage among the three great powers,” explains The National Interest.
What to do?
The Art Isn’t Always in the Deal
On Thursday, the day before the VP went to Pituffik Space Base and warned US soldiers about China and Russia’s “extraordinary interest in Arctic passageways,” Russian President Vladimir Putin called Trump’s plans to take control of the territory “serious” and having “long-standing historical roots.” He said it would be a mistake to “believe that this is some kind of extravagant talk of the new American administration.”
Trump is not only serious, it seems, but he is also not the first chief executive to show such an interest. President Andrew Jackson suggested buying it in 1832. During the tail end of the Second World War, the Truman administration offered to buy it for a hundred million dollars in gold. Still, Greenlandic and Danish officials are not interested. Trump insists America will “go as far as we have to go” to acquire the world’s largest island. Maybe he’s just toying with the Danes and Greenlanders, seeing how far he can push them and what they might be willing to do to avoid “by any means necessary.”
A recent poll commissioned by the Danish newspaper Berlingske and Greenlandic daily Sermitsiaq showed that 85% of Greenlanders oppose joining the US, and 45% see Trump’s interest as a threat. At the same time, “the Danish government faces increasing discontent from the Greenlandic people over what islanders view as neglect and underinvestment from Copenhagen, which has resulted in the decay of what limited infrastructure does exist across the island,” explains RealClear Politics. “So it follows that the Danes may be on edge as President Trump calls for Greenlanders’ right to self-determination.”
However, “Greenlanders want to detach from Denmark,” said Liberty Nation News Editor-in-Chief Mark Angelides, “but only if their standard of living can be assured. And that’s where dealmaking becomes the only viable obstacle to Trump’s plans.” Hear him out:
“Consider this potential deal. Currently, Greenland gets from Denmark its defense and a yearly grant of just over three billion Danish kroner (about $400 million) – that’s about half of the local government revenue. If the US were to offer a stronger defense, a significant increase in spending, and maintain the independent status in return for unfettered access to defense facilities and preferential access to rare earth mineral mining … would the people go for it?”
Maybe Trump is bluffing about not ruling out the use of force, or maybe not. World leaders seem to believe him, though, and that might be the point. The art isn’t always in the deal. Sometimes, it’s in the methods used to get to the deal.
Corey Smith is a recovering bartender, and a freelance editor. He specializes in memoirs and novels but has a smorgasbord of experience in non-fiction works. This article was first published HERE
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