What makes Greenland a strategic prize at the time of increased tensions? And why now?

Nuk, Greenland (AP) – When US President Donald Trump suggested buying Greenland for the first time in 2019, people thought it was just a joke. No one laughs now.

Trump’s interest in Greenland, which was strongly renovated after his return to the White House in January, comes as part of the “First American” foreign policy platform that includes demands for Ukraine to deliver mineral rights in exchange for continuing military aid, threats to control Panama channel, and suggestions that Canada must become the state 51 United States.

Why Greenland?

Increasing international tensions, global warming and changing global economy put Greenland at the heart of the debate on global trade and security, and Trump wants to ensure that the United States controls this country rich in minerals that guard the Arctic and North Atlantic Ocean with North America.

Who belongs to Greenland?

Greenland is the self -government Denmark, an American ally who has long rejected Trump’s initiatives. Denmark also admitted Greenland’s right to independence at the time of his choice.

Amid concerns about foreign intervention and demands that Greenland should control their fate, the island’s Prime Minister launched the parliamentary elections early on Tuesday.

The largest island in the world, 80 % of which is located over the Arctic circle, is home to about 56,000 people who have been largely ignored by the rest of the world.

Why are other countries interested in Greenland?

Climate change reduces ice in the Arctic, promised to create a northwestern corridor for international trade and support competition with Russia, China and other countries about reaching mineral resources in the region.

“Let’s be clear: We soon enters the century in the Arctic, and Greenland’s feature in Greenland will be, and the constant emergence and influence everywhere,” said Dwayne Menezes, the administrative director of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative.

“Greenland – which is located at the crossroads between North America, Europe and Asia, and with the enormous resources capabilities – will become more importantly important, as all forces seek to push the court to it. One of them is very keen to go forward and buy it.”

Here are some factors that drive us to Greenland.

Arctic competition

After the Cold War, the Arctic was largely the field of international cooperation. But climate change, fishing for rare resources and increasing international tensions after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine leads competition in the region again.

Strategic importance

Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than two -thirds of its territory inside the Arctic circle. This has made it very important to defend North America since World War II, when the United States has occupied Greenland to ensure that Nazi Germany was not falling and to protect the decisive northern northern shipping corridors.

The United States has retained the bases in Greenland since the war, and supported the Pittevik space base, a former thuel air base, to warn missiles, missile defense and satellite control of the United States and NATO. Greenland also guarded part of what is known as Giuk (Greenland, Iceland, UK) GAP, where NATO monitors Russian marine movements in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Natural resources

Greenland has large sediments from the so -called rare ground minerals that need to make everything from computers and smartphones to batteries, solar energy technologies and winds that will occupy the transition away from fossil fuels. The American geological survey has also identified a possible external oil and natural gas.

Greenlanders is keen to develop resources, but they are strict rules for environmental protection. There are also questions about the feasibility of extracting mineral wealth in Greenland due to the harsh climate in the region.

Climate

The retreating ice cover in Greenland displays the country’s metal wealth, and the marine ice melts the legendary northwestern corridor across the Arctic.

Greenland strategically sits on two potential roads through the Arctic, which reduces the shipping times between the North Atlantic Ocean and overcoming the bottlenecks of Suez channels and Panama. Although the ways are likely to be commercially viable for many years, they attract attention.

Chinese interest

In 2018, China itself announced a “country close to the colon” in an attempt to gain more influence in the region. China has also announced plans to build a “polar silk road” as part of the Belt and Global Roads Initiative, which created economic ties with countries around the world.

Then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected China’s step, saying: “Do we want the Arctic Ocean to turn into a new sea in South China, fraught with the military narrative and competing regional demands?” A rare Chinese ground mining project in Greenland stopped after the local government banned uranium mining in 2021.

independence

The legislation that extended the autonomy to Greenland in 2009 also recognized the country’s right to independence under international law. Opinion polls show that the majority of Greenland prefers independence, although they differ at the time when this should happen exactly. Independence capabilities raise questions about external interference in Greenland, which can threaten American interests in the country.