Greenland is one of the least accessible places on the globe. However, over the years it has become a geopolitical hotspot that is attracting a lot of attention from global powers considering its significance from a security perspective. The island’s pivotal geographical position between the United States, Europe, and Russia means that it has huge value in terms of security and natural resources. The island has a huge strategic significance because of several critical raw materials, including minerals, natural gas, oil wealth, and emerging trade routes.
The United States is wary of China’s ambitions, warning that China utilizes its economic strength to establish its military presence in the region. For China, the region is significant in terms of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and broader Arctic ambitions. Despite not being an Arctic nation, China has shown its interest in building a Polar Silk Road parallel to the Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure investments in Greenland. China’s Arctic Silk Road sets its sights on cost-effective shipping routes between Europe and Asia through the Arctic Ocean. One of the world’s largest companies, China Communication Construction Company, is engaged in expanding China’s interests in Greenland by bidding to construct Greenland’s new airports. Greenland is now looking to upgrade three airports to open itself to affordable flights bearing tourists, repatriates, and immigrants. In 2017, the company signed contracts for overseas infrastructure construction projects worth $32 billion. China is also interested in accessing the mineral sector of Greenland, as the region’s untapped natural reserves are critical for advanced technologies of China and building a research base and satellite station in the region.
Greenland is strategically significant for the United States and is the world’s largest island in the North American continent and thus a part of the North American defense system. The United States of America has had a military base in the region named “Pituffik” since 1951. In today’s time, the island is important for the United States as a part of its Space Force, as well as being central for monitoring missile and space activity. In addition, Greenland can also serve as a link to maintain supply lines from the United States East Coast to Northern Europe. The region has once again become a pawn in Arctic geopolitics after Trump’s recent comments on the island’s importance for the national security of the United States. “For purposes of national security and freedom throughout the world, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” According to Rebecca Pincus, the director at the Wilson Center’s Polar Institute, Greenland is growing in importance as we find ourselves in a global competition with China and in a new technological revolution regarding warfare.”
Donald Trump and his advisors are aware of the fact that the island is not for sale and that their comments can cause outrage in Denmark. Donald Trump’s recent remarks regarding Greenland, the Panama Canal, and the war in Ukraine highlight his peculiar approach to diplomacy and foreign policy. However, the strategic acquisition of the island by the Trump administration can be considered the first natural option for expanding the United States territory in North America. One of the other reasons for Trump’s administration’s interest in the island is its rich mineral reserves. Donald Trump’s team views Greenland as an alternative to China’s near-monopoly on rare-earth minerals. The declaration of China as a new Arctic state and the increased activity of Russia in the region make the incoming US government think of Greenland as an integral part of the US sphere of influence and as a national security priority.
