Greenland goes to polls today: Why is it a strategic asset?

Greenland will vote on Tuesday in a general election, just a week after US President Donald Trump’s remarks about seizing the world’s largest island.

In 2019, when he first proposed purchasing Greenland, many assumed it was a joke. But it wasn’t.

For Trump, acquiring Greenland is part of his broader “America First” policy, which emphasises securing strategic resources and maintaining a strong global position.

Greenland is at the centre of the discussion about global trade and security due to rising international tensions, global warming, and the shifting global economy. Trump wants to ensure that the United States maintains control over this mineral-rich nation that protects the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.

A self-governing territory of Denmark

Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a long-time United States ally that has turned down Trump’s proposals. Also, Greenland’s right to independence at its own discretion has been acknowledged by Denmark.

The island’s prime minister called for an early legislative election on Tuesday (March 11) amid demands that Greenlanders take charge of their fate and concerns about foreign meddling.

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The majority of the 56,000 Inuit people who live on the world’s largest island—80 per cent of which is located above the Arctic Circle—have up until now been mostly ignored by the outside world.

They insist that they want to be neither American nor Danish – just Greenlandic.

Other countries interested in Greenland

The Arctic ice is melting due to climate change, which could open up a northwest passage for trade and rekindle competition with China, Russia, and other nations for access to the region’s rich resources.

“Let us be clear: we are soon entering the Arctic Century, and its most defining feature will be Greenland’s meteoric rise, sustained prominence and ubiquitous influence,’’ said Dwayne Menezes, managing director of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative.

“Greenland — located on the crossroads between North America, Europe and Asia, and with enormous resource potential — will only become more strategically important, with all powers great and small seeking to pay court to it. One is quite keen to go a step further and buy it.”

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Factors driving US interest in Greenland

Arctic competition: The Arctic was primarily a region of global cooperation after the Cold War. However, competition in the region is now again being driven by factors including climate change, the fight for limited resources, and rising geopolitical tensions after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Strategic importance: Greenland lies off the northeastern coast of Canada, with over two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. Because of this, it has been essential to North American defence since World War II, when the US occupied Greenland to prevent Nazi Germany from gaining control of it and to safeguard vital North Atlantic commercial routes.
Since the war, the US has maintained outposts in Greenland, and the Pituffik Space Base, previously Thule Air Force Base, supports NATO and US space surveillance, missile defence, and missile warning missions. In the North Atlantic, Greenland also protects a portion of the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) Gap, where NATO keeps an eye on Russian naval operations.

Natural resources: Greenland is home to substantial reserves of so-called rare earth minerals, which are essential for the production of everything from cellphones and computers to the batteries, solar, and wind technologies that will drive the shift away from fossil fuels. Potential offshore oil and gas resources have also been found by the US Geological Survey.

Although they have rigorous regulations in place to safeguard the environment, Greenlanders are eager to utilise the resources. The region’s tough climate raises doubts about whether it would be feasible to extract Greenland’s mineral richness.

Climate change: Greenland’s mineral richness is coming to light by the disappearing ice cap, and the once-mythical Northwest Passage through the Arctic is becoming accessible due to melting sea ice.

With its advantageous location along two possible routes via the Arctic, Greenland would be able to avoid the Suez and Panama canal bottlenecks and shorten shipping durations between the North Atlantic and Pacific. The routes are drawing attention even though they probably won’t be profitable for many years.

Chinese interest: China proclaimed itself a “near-Arctic state” in 2018 in an attempt to increase its influence in the region. China has also announced plans to build a “Polar Silk Road” as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative, which has created economic links with countries around the world.
Then-US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected China’s move, saying: “Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims?” A Chinese-backed rare earth mining project in Greenland stalled after the local government banned uranium mining in 2021.

Independence: The legislation that extended self-government to Greenland in 2009 also recognized the country’s right to independence under international law. Opinion polls show a majority of Greenlanders favor independence, though they differ on exactly when that should occur. The potential for independence raises questions about outside interference in Greenland that could threaten U.S. interests in the country.

With inputs from The Associated Press