Donald Trump’s interest in Greenland may have as much to do with minerals as with geopolitics
America’s interest in Greenland dates from the 19th century, when commercial acquisition of territory by states was common. The idea was first raised in a report commissioned by President Andrew Johnson, who bought Alaska from Russia in 1867. Denmark agreed to an American presence on Greenland in 1941.
China, which now calls itself a “near-Arctic” power, is also arousing American concerns. In 2016 Denmark vetoed a Chinese company’s attempt to buy a former American base on Greenland, sending Danish sailors to live on the facility as a precaution. The following year the Pentagon expressed alarm at another Chinese effort to build three new airports there. Denmark stepped in with government-backed loans; the Americans offered cash, too.
But Mr Trump’s interest may have as much to do with minerals as with geopolitics. Investors in Greenland have requested permits to open rare-earth and uranium mines that would be among the largest in the world. Other resources include diamonds and gold, and possible oil and gas fields in the country’s forbidding north. As melting ice opens up new transport routes and access to resources, the big powers’ appetite for Arctic real estate is likely to grow.
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