Greenland is, once again, plastered all over the front pages of world media following Trump repeating his desire to purchase the island, and if it seemed to many like a joke the first time, this time around – judging by Trump’s rhetoric and the reactions to it – many are considering the possibility of such a turn of events.

US interest in Greenland: why?

It is also well-known that the ice in Greenland, an island currently known for being covered with snow and ice, is melting at rapid rates, which uncovers its rich variety of hidden natural resources. The subsoil in Greenland contains rare earth and precious metals, precious stones, coal, graphite and uranium. On top of coal, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, graphite, olivine, cryolite and marble have or are also being mined. Unsurprisingly, there is also massive potential for oil exploitation off the coast of the island.

Since 2013, the Inatsisartut (Parliament of Greenland) allowed for mining companies to submit applications for gaining the right to mine the island’s subsoil for radioactive minerals. The United States has a huge and well-developed mining industry and could easily dive into Greenland’s precious resources.

In terms of military, it is also no secret that the United States has a base on the upper western coast of the island (Pituffik Space Base, better known as Thule Air Base). It was built in 1943, in the midst of the Second World War, and is not only located in the Arctic (approximately equidistant from the Arctic Circle and the North Pole), but is also the northern-most US base in the entire world. Mission Delta 2 (MD2) and Mission Delta 4 (MD4), part of the US Space Force, are closely linked to Greenland: many space surveillance and control sensors of the MD2, as well as missile warning sensors of the MD4, are located on the island. These systems are used by the US, Canada (within the framework of the North American Aerospace Defence Command) and other........

© New Eastern Outlook