Trump offers to acquire Greenland: The long history of the US trying to take over the island

Greenland, the world’s largest but sparsely-populated island, is presently an autonomous territory of Denmark. The land is abundant successful earthy resources, peculiarly minerals that are captious to galore aboriginal technologies, and is located strategically adjacent the emerging shipping lanes astir the Arctic.

Buying, oregon annexing a overseas territory by force, is an thought wholly retired of spot successful a 21st Century world. However, the Greenland determination is overmuch much than conscionable different outrageous thought from Trump, who, incidentally, has besides spoken of integrating Canada with the US. And it is overmuch much than a portion of lucrative existent property that Trump is said to beryllium eyeing.

Not a caller offer

This is not the archetypal clip that Trump has expressed his tendency for Greenland. He had done truthful during his archetypal word arsenic well. In August 2019, helium had cancelled a scheduled sojourn to Denmark seemingly due to the fact that the Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen had turned down his connection to bargain Greenland, calling it “absurd”.

Trump was good into the 3rd twelvemonth of his presidency astatine that time, and wrong a fewer months, Covid19 pandemic had pushed everything other to the backburner.

This clip Trump has begun early, adjacent earlier taking office, and seems intent connected pursuing up connected his talk. Within days of his nationalist statement, his son, Doland Trump Jr, visited Greenland, ostensibly connected a leisure trip. Trump has besides threatened to enforce tariffs connected Danish goods coming into the US — a menace helium repeated during his speech with Frederiksen. On January 16, Danish companies which export goods to the US, had a gathering with their Prime Minister to sermon the imaginable fall-out.

The American involvement successful Greenland goes overmuch longer backmost successful history. In 1946, US officials enactment guardant a connection to bargain Greenland from Denmark. That connection followed a 1941 statement betwixt the US and Denmark implicit the defence of Greenland, which allowed US troops to beryllium based connected Greenland for the archetypal time. At that time, German forces had already taken implicit Denmark and determination was the menace of Greenland being attacked arsenic well.

Denmark had rejected the 1946 offer. “While we beryllium overmuch to America, I bash not consciousness that we beryllium them the full land of Greenland,” the past Danish Foreign Minister Gustav Rasmussen, to whom the connection had been made, had said.

Denmark, however, did let the US overmuch greater entree to Greenland done respective consequent agreements. Therefore, the US is not a implicit outsider to Greenland. It has stakes and interests successful Greenland and the wider Arctic region.

Renewed attempt

The 1946 connection was based connected information considerations. After World War II, however, the US wanted power of Greenland to neutralise the Soviet Union’s power successful the Arctic region. It had mentioned the emergence of “modern weapons” to propulsion for its lawsuit successful the 1946 proposal. Through consequent agreements, the US not lone acceptable up subject bases but besides built a atomic reactor and a installation to dispose of atomic waste.

The contention with the Soviet Union, and its successor authorities Russia, is mostly over. The renewed effort by the US, nether Trump, to get Greenland is present being seen arsenic prompted by the tendency to antagonistic the rising power of China successful the region.

Greenland is mineral-rich with ample deposits of accepted resources specified arsenic gold, nickel, and cobalt. It besides has immoderate of the biggest reserves of uncommon world minerals specified arsenic dysprosium, praseodymium, neodymium, and terbium. Of the 34 classified uncommon world minerals, Greenland has astir 23. It is these that person brought the land a batch of attention, on with respective prospecting mining companies.

The uncommon world minerals person abruptly gained prominence due to the fact that of their usage successful captious emerging technologies successful the renewable vigor sector, caller subject applications, and user electronics. Outside of Greenland, these captious minerals are heavy concentrated successful China, which controls the bulk of the planetary accumulation and supply.

Crucially, China has entered Greenland successful a large way. Chinese companies are actively progressive successful prospecting, mining and processing these mineral resources. They present relationship for 11 per cent of the investments successful the mineral assemblage successful Greenland, conscionable down Australia and the US, according to the island’s Mineral Department data.

The Chinese shadow

The Chinese beingness is not constricted to the mineral assemblage successful Greenland. China has been making ambitious forays into the Arctic region, and is progressive successful the instauration of caller infrastructure successful Greenland aimed astatine facilitating greater usage of Arctic oversea routes. In 2018, it released a achromatic insubstantial connected its Arctic argumentation successful which it unveiled plans of creating a ‘Polar Silk Road’, an hold of its Belt and Road Initiative successful Asia and Europe.

The US is unnerved by these developments, and has adjacent tried to dissuade Denmark from allowing excessively galore Chinese companies connected the island.

The US has galore motivations to effort and summation power implicit Greenland. However, the increasing footprint of China, which has happened successful the past decade, seems to beryllium the biggest crushed down Trump’s repeated attempts to get the world’s largest island.