Why Greenland is of growing strategic significance

One striking omission in this piece: that in the Cold War, Denmark always refused[0] the US permission to base nuclear weapons in Greenland. The article puts a heavy emphasis on it being an "ideal springboard for launching U.S. nuclear strikes on the Soviet Union" (in the 1950's), but elides over *why* that did not become a thing.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Thule_Air_Base_B-52_crash... ("Thulegate" political scandal" (1968))

I don't fully agree with their thesis. I think the "nuclear war" aspect is a lot *less* strategic now then it was in the 1950-60's: "over the Arctic" is no longer the primary missile path, like it was in the early technology era. Many of them are deployed on submarines, which can launch at their target from any direction; and there are (now or soon) larger[1] land-based missiles that have enough range to go around the planet the long way, e.g. attacking the US from the south. This is, in part, strategic response to the early focus on the Arctic—both to the detection radars, and to active anti-missile defenses.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_Orbital_Bombardment... ("Fractional Orbital Bombardment System")

edit: And moreover, there's now satellite-based infrared sensors[2] that see rocket launches anywhere on Earth, instantly—something the early Cold War did not have. Radar is no longer the exclusive, or first, way to detect a first-strike.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_warning_satellite

What prompted the member of the press to ask him about this obscure topic in the first place? No one was talking about this, and then a guy at a press conference asked the right question to get him to run his mouth. Now the whole world is talking about it. Who and why?

Trump also wanted to rename the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. This is all about vanity, not about minerals, economy, security etc.

In his press conference Trump mentioned the world map multiple times. Trump may well be forming his annexation ambitions based on what the map would look like after the annexation. Well, the world map looks very different based on what kind of projection you use. In the Mercator projection Greenland looks big. Bigger than the US, in fact. This may be what is attracting Trump, as it looks like a lot of real estate. Tobler hyperelliptical projection on the other hand makes Greenland look small. Someone should show Trump this projection and it may very well cause him to lose interest, and we can sidestep a dispute with Denmark and Europe.

Greenland just got set up for its biggest tourist season ever, and the business interest will be off the chart, anything and everything. Though of course Greenland is still a forbiding place with less total infrastructure than Maine, no roads, no possibility of roads, very few places for harbors, non of them ice free, and level land for airports scarce. While mines are possible, and done, they are a lot like a lunar base would be, everything in buildings and underground, and zero contact with the outside world, no town,no trees,rock and ice no where to go that isn't more dangerous than the mine. 3 to 6 month shifts. mind numbing tedium, drudgery, low wages, total isolation, and stuck with the kind of people who LIKE THAT who wants a job?

Huh? What strategic significance? Thule Air Base (now Pituffik Space Base) is mostly a radar station now. It once housed B-52 bombers for the Strategic Air Command, but those are long gone.

Control of the Northwest Passage, maybe?

So, Greenland is going to become the next Ukraine ? The western war industry really wants to keep their stock prices growing.

“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” - Lenin

Following the news feels more and more like watching a very entertaining tv show, especially with all the plot twists.

One of the few things I agree with Trump. Join North and South Dakota into a single state ( The Great State of Dakota? ) and make Greenland the 50th state. We wouldn't even need to replace any flags. It's always been a dream of mine to have greenland as part of the US. It's a natural fit. The west coast has alaska, the east coast should have greenland.

Also, we need annex all the territory south of the st lawrence river and divide it amongst new york, vermont, new hampshire and maine. It wouldn't require too much work. Just extend the borders of these states vertically north to the st lawrence river.

Edit: Honestly what was flag worthy about my comment? It's insane what triggers people.

Drill, baby, drill. Greenland contains some of the largest earth earth mineral deposits in the world. And the US needs them desperately.

The strategic importance is just a decoy. The US could put as many bases they wanted just by asking nicely.

>Trump threatened economic retaliation against Denmark, should the Scandinavian country — a NATO member — stand in the way of his territorial ambitions.

It's all a bit nuts. Has any other US president gone territorial expansionist like this?

I think people overthink this. The reality is far more simple, just ask yourself: what would be in the best interest of Putin?

Trump threatening to take military action against Greenland due to its strategic military importance legitimizes Russia's invasion of Ukraine "for strategic military importance". Whether Trump follows through or not, suddenly Russia has a defensible position because: look America the land of the free wants to do the same thing.

Anyone trying to spin in knots trying to come up with an alternative justification will do just that, because there is no sane reason otherwise. Denmark is an ally, and all indications are they will remain an ally as long as a democratically elected government is running the US that upholds western ideals.

This is all moot anyway since the Trump admin lacks the intelligence and diplomatic chops to acquire Greenland, even by force. All he’s doing is driving away our allies.

I'm pretty sure there are exactly two reasons for Trump going on about Greenland:

1. Putin suggested it to him at some point, because he knew it would cause chaos among the Western alliance bloc.

2. Mercator projection. It looks big on a map, therefore he wants it.

The second one is along the same lines as his obvious confusion about the word "asylum" - if you watch how he talks about refugees, he obviously doesn't know the difference between "mental asylum" and "political asylum", and thinks that people seeking refuge in the United States are all nuts. The man is really, really, really evil, but he's also really, really, really dumb.

Nonsense. There are only about 200 U.S. military personnel in Greenland; if it was of strategic significance there would be thousands.