Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to incorporate Greenland into the American empire. And there is, of course, a strategic point to this, as any nuclear war would be fought over the North Pole. If the US had more bases around Greenland and more territorial waters around the island, Washington’s playing field would improve.
Greenland was colonised by Norwegian Vikings in the 10th century and the land now belongs to Denmark. The current population consists mainly of Inuit and they have partial self-government. The US already has a base there and has a defence agreement with Denmark dating back to the 1950s.
Perhaps it is something of a historical twist that it was the Angles, Jutes and Saxons who founded England after the Romans left the island. These peoples emigrated from the areas around present-day Denmark. In addition, the country was invaded by Danish Vikings in the 9th century and became part of the Danish kingdom. It was later invaded by the Normans in 1066, who were descendants of Norwegian Vikings in France. And it was the English, descendants of all these Scandinavian conquerors, who populated North America and created the United States and Canada.
Americans, Englishmen and Norse people have a shared history, and their paths still cross today.
As Denmark is a small country, it actually has too limited a military to be able to defend Greenland against any of the superpowers. It is de facto the United States that unofficially dominates the area, but for some reason they want Greenland to belong to the United States officially as well. The question is whether this is a feather in Donald Trump’s cap, and a consolation prize after Russia’s impending victory in Ukraine, or whether the annexation gives the United States more legal rights than the current defence agreement allows?
The US will probably buy Greenland from Denmark. In reality, of course, they could annex the country without the Danes being able to do anything about it, but a purchase will look better and give the Americans stronger legitimacy in the long run. An aggressive takeover might worry the Russian bear?
The battle for the Arctic and its natural resources is also cited as a reason for the growing interest in Greenland. There, the US lags hopelessly behind the Russian fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers. And it will take many years to catch up. Perhaps this is the reason for the increased US defence budget that has also been in the news?
There is a risk that the US is focusing on too many areas: Ukraine, Iran, Central America, Taiwan and the Arctic. Instead of concentrating on the most important issues, it is losing track and doing a lot of half-hearted things.
Are we seeing an empire in decline and fall, or an even greater power in the making?
