Why Greenland Is Key To Making America Great

Securing the island would give the US a bigger claim over the Arctic and strategic northern sea routes. But taking it forcefully would throw the world order into icy waters

- MANISH TEWARI

Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses humanity the most. It, unfortunately, is in short supply—especially among the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his forces to invade Ukraine in February 2022 without any obvious provocation. Xi Jinping habitually talks about absorbing Taiwan within China’s embrace. Now, Donald Trump is rather cavalierly talking about making Canada the 51st American state, annexing the Panama Canal, turning the Gaza Strip into a riviera after expelling all its residents, and usurping Greenland, an autonomous territory under the kingdom of Denmark, a sovereign state.

However, it is Trump’s obsession with Greenland that stands out. Soon after he took over as president, Trump sent his son and then his vice president there. Both were greeted with disdain, if not outright hostility, by the Greenlanders. Behind his muscle-flexing lies a history of Greenland’s maritime significance, given the geographical placement of this island, the largest in the world.

With an area of 2.166 million sq km and a population of only 57,000 people, Greenland has been a part of Denmark for over 600 years. Close to 80 percent of its landmass is ice-covered, barren and uninhabited. A bulk of the inhabitants are Inuit, and an overwhelming majority of people live along the coast, not on the ice sheet. Based on social welfarism, its economy is sustained by fishing and subsidies from Denmark. Why, then, is this snow-covered mass of land so coveted by Trump? The reason can be enumerated in two phrases—global warming and strategic location.