Squiz Shortcuts - Why the US wants Greenland

Your Shortcut to… Why the US wants Greenland

US President Donald Trump has made a lot of announcements in the short time he’s been back in the White House - but one that has raised some big questions is his intention for the US to take over Greenland. It’s election time on the island - which is ruled by Denmark - and its future has never been more in focus. So in this Squiz Shortcut, we’ll take you through:

• all things Greenland

• why it’s important to the US

• and why so many people are watching its next moves closely

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Squiz the Shortcut

Why am I hearing so much about Greenland?
Mostly it’s because Donald Trump keeps talking about it… And it's holding an election today which could have big implications for its future.

Where exactly is it?
If you’re looking at a globe, it’s right up the top between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada and northwest of Iceland. And, although it has green in its name, 80% of it is covered in ice.

Cool… What else can you tell me about it?
Because it’s so far north, the sun doesn’t set in Greenland from 25 May to 25 July, and that’s the only month the temperature usually ever gets above freezing. And it’s quite big - around three-quarters of the size of WA. But for all that land, it has a tiny population of around 57,000 people - and nearly half of them live in the capital, Nuuk. 

What are the key industries?
Fishing, sealing, whaling, and hunting… The island also has a growing income from tourism - think cruise ships offering views of polar bears, reindeer and sea eagles - and, because the fishing industry isn’t able to sustain as many jobs as it used to, the Greenland Government is looking into ways to profit from its mineral resources including gold, diamonds, lead, zinc, and natural gas. 

How will it do that?
The idea is to attract foreign investment to the mining sector, and to provide the workers needed to staff the mines. And they’ve certainly attracted foreign investment - the US wants to buy the whole island.

Why does it want to buy a big chunk of ice?
They’re keen on the mining aspect for sure - in addition to those minerals we just mentioned, reports say that underneath the ice sheet there’s oil reserves and critical minerals to be found. But Trump’s looking at a bigger picture. He says the US wants to take over Greenland for security reasons - and he told Congress in a recent address “we’re going to get it, one way or the other”... 

What does Greenland have to do with US security?
Trump reckons America and the West are competing with China and Russia in the region, and that it needs Greenland to shore up its military defences. But there’s a bit of a problem with that…

What’s that?
It belongs to Denmark, and it’s not for sale. But the 3 countries have a long history together.

Fill me in
Back in WWII, when Denmark was occupied by Germany, the US assumed a kind of protector role over Greenland. There was a refuelling base there, and a weather station, which was handy for the allies, and their presence in the region was a deterrent for the Germans. When the war was over, America wanted to keep that presence in the Arctic going, and they offered to buy it. 

Deal?
No deal… Instead, the US found another way to keep a military presence there through the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, or NATO… In 1949 the US made a deal with Denmark to build military bases and a huge radar system on Greenland under the guise of NATO, with joint US and Danish flags flying at the gates. That came in handy during the Cold War years…

How so?
The US was very aware that straight over the top of the world was the shortest line between them and Russia. And that radar system was there to protect them.

Is it still there?
Sure is… It forms a massive shield with others in Alaska, the UK, and one in space, to detect foreign missiles and bombers coming over the North Pole. But not all of the US’s military operations have been welcomed by Greenlanders.

How do the locals feel about them?
In addition to that radar system, the US routinely ran air patrols from its remote Thule Air Base, and not just any old patrols - the planes were carrying four nuclear bombs each. But in 1968, one of the planes crashed into the ice near the air base. 

Why don’t we know about this?
Probably because the bombs didn’t go off due to fail-safe mechanisms, but the resulting fire caused extensive radioactive contamination of a fjord, and affected the health of the hundreds of workers who cleaned it up. The incident severely strained relations between the US and Denmark, which had a nuclear-free policy, and they weren’t thrilled to find out that the US had been routinely flying nuclear bombs over Greenland. 

How did Greenlanders respond?
The fallout with the Greenlanders over the environmental damage has been even more pronounced. Investigations into the incident found that it poisoned the water in the fjord which has since been suspected of causing birth defects in the wildlife, and that these aspects of the crash were covered up by the Danes and the US Government. 

How do they feel about the Danes?
Sentiment for the Danish among the indigenous Inuit people - which make up 90% of the population - is also at an all-time low… Many have taken legal action against the Danish Government over forced sterilisation programs in the 60s and 70s, and a failed social experiment in the 50s where children were removed from families and sent to Denmark. A lot of Greenlanders remember that time and they’re leaning towards gaining their independence from Denmark.

How many want independence?
Polls show around two-thirds of locals are now pro-independence. To gain this from Denmark, Greenlanders would have to vote for it in a referendum, and while it’s the popular option - there are differing opinions on how to do it, given the country relies on Denmark for nearly half of its funding. 

What’s the alternative?
Others who want independence are pushing for an economic/defence partnership with the US as soon as possible, hoping to leverage their natural resources and position in exchange for jobs and security - which are dwindling in the face of climate change, and that’s another aspect to all of this that we haven’t spoken about yet…

What’s happening there?
Greenland’s environment and people stand to be hugely impacted by warming sea temperatures and an ice sheet that’s melting at a rate of 30 million tonnes per hour… You read that right. But that same melting ice is opening up new sea lanes, making it easier to ship critical minerals to the world’s markets for use in new green technologies like EV batteries and wind turbines, which aim to slow climate change…

It’s tricky then…
Quite… Greenland is now 40% more open for ships to pass through during summer than it used to be, and these new ocean channels are having a big impact on international business - cutting down some shipping times by half - but they also have implications for the security of North America.

What sort of implications?
Well, if the US controls those waters, it’ll be harder for enemies to use the channels in the event of an attack… This is a big part of why Trump wants Greenland. The Russians have their own military bases in the Arctic, and experts say the Chinese are also getting in on the action. They call it the “polar silk road” and they’ve been building icebreakers to navigate the region.

So what’s likely to happen next?
Greenlanders go to the polls today, and while reports say none of the parties running are in favour of US ownership, if the people vote into power a party that’s willing to initiate a referendum on independence, it could spell big changes… 

For a country that’s mostly ice, it holds a lot of strategic importance
It sure does… As Trump would say, it holds some cards - and Greenlanders are more aware of that than ever, which is why so many people around the world are watching its next moves closely…

Onto our Recommendations

Listening: This 2-parter from The Rest is Classified podcast called Why Trump Wants Greenland. It’s an entertaining look at the US’s history with Greenland and why it’s interested in acquiring it…

Reading: This article from Reuters that covers the renewed push for independence among Greenlanders. Through interviews with locals, it canvasses the general mood of the people going into the election.

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