Background, in case you missed it/have good muffles on silly political outbursts:
US President Donald Trump’s renewed interest in taking control of Greenland has thrust this vast, frozen landmass of just 57,000 people into the geopolitical spotlight. Offers to buy Greenland are nothing new — Washington first made enquiries in 1867 — but this latest attempt, in which Trump has refused to rule out using military force against a Nato ally, has thrown Denmark and the EU into crisis.
Between Russia’s growing militarisation of its Arctic territory, China’s increasing ambitions for trade routes and Trump’s expansionist rhetoric about Greenland, the Arctic is quickly becoming a region of strategic competition.
I find the duality there interesting; most Greenlanders (and Europeans) find Trump/Vance approach despicable—something about current borders and rulers being sacred, I think; see Ukraine—but most Greenlanders also want to leave Danish rule.
“It is utopia to think about a sovereign Greenlandic state without the US being involved in some way.”
Might as well, no?? When you're the target of big power geopolitics... why not play the game to your advantage?
Crudely economically, joining the U.S. as a territory with the benefits that come with that in terms of common legal frameworks, military protection, trade etc, is unbelievable. Plus, if they ever become a state, they would like Wyoming and Alaska get outsized influence in the highest echelon of power (population density crucial for the Senate).
Also, trade routes:
This bit indeed tempts me at least:
Mining has drawn most of the headlines due to the large amounts of minerals buried beneath Greenland. But officials in Nuuk say tourism has the biggest potential as they try to entice those visiting Iceland and northern Norway to sample something even more remote. “We are getting a lot of positive publicity [from Trump]. We are going to have more visitors this summer, for sure,” says Christian Keldsen, head of the Greenland Business Association.
Maybe it was all just a quid-pro-quo tourism/marketing play?!
If nothing else, the article is worth looking at for the stunning pictures alone. Lovely feature/big read!
non-paywalled here: https://archive.md/ir411