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The reaction to President Trump's sudden interest in buying Greenland in Denmark was mostly a mockery. And Denmark, owner of the territory, seems to oppose any sale.
But do not laugh – an American purchase of Greenland could represent an extraordinary deal in terms of national security, economic interests and environmental protection of the United States.
The acquisition of Greenland by the United States is not a strange or irrational idea. Following the fall of Denmark on Nazi Germany in 1940, US forces defended Greenland. The roots of American-Greenlandic camaraderie are old and formal. In 1946, a certain Harry S. Truman even tried to buy Greenland for $ 100 million. Truman was he crazy? On the contrary, he was the president who put an end to a world war and placed America on the ultimate path to defeating the Soviet Union.
As for the current utility of the purchase of Greenland, it has an extraordinary strategic value. Through the US Air Force Base already in Thule, Greenland provides critical intelligence capabilities to conduct satellite operations and detect potential nuclear missile launches over the North Pole from from China or Russia. Thule better allows the United States to warn its citizens of an imminent attack.
And it's more than that. With the Thule deep water port and long runway, the base is a logistics hub for Arctic operations. And this gives the US military the means to deter and defeat a possible aggression. Russia, in particular, has made every effort to ensure territorial control of the resource-rich areas of the Arctic. The American presence in Greenland is becoming more and more relevant.
The purchase of Greenland would further enhance the existing benefits to national security. Independent of political sensitivities in Denmark, for example, the United States could station missile forces in Greenland, including intermediate-range missile forces. Russia's ambitions in the Arctic should be set aside.
Greenland is also rich in resources. The United States, already energy independent, would have free access to a territory rich not only in hydrocarbons, but also in rare earth metals that are currently available only from an adversary, China. Greenland also controls thriving fishing waters.
But this does not only concern American interests. The small population of Greenland also has everything to gain from a massive influx of US investments. The tourism boom alone would surely offer a vast untapped potential.
And Greenland offers many great opportunities for the protection of the environment. Its waters are home to many species of whales, its land of many species of flowers and animals and its sky many species of birds. Greenland offers the potential for vast new designated wildlife sanctuaries and would give American scientists the opportunity to study the Arctic environment from a single point of view.
As strange as it may seem at first glance – and the purchase of Alaska by America also seemed very strange at the time – Americans from all political parties would benefit from Greenland and of its 56,000 inhabitants joining our national family.
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