America doesn't need to own Greenland — there's a better, more peaceful way
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, President Trump backed off his threat to use the military to gain control of Greenland. He said that he doesn’t need to use military force and later announced that the U.S. had reached agreement on the "framework of a future deal" with NATO. Denmark, Greenland, and our European allies have rejected any attempt by the U.S. to acquire the island.
Contrary to President Donald Trump’s views, the U.S. does not need to own Greenland to defend it. For decades our national security has been strengthened by cooperative agreements with Greenland, Denmark, and other NATO nations extending back to the Second World War.
During World War II, the Nazis occupied Denmark and had a military outpost in Greenland. The U.S. ousted the Nazis from Greenland and established military bases on the island. In 1951, the U.S. entered into an agreement with the Danish government providing for joint defense, and throughout the Cold War the U.S. maintained military facilities on the island. In 2004, the agreement was updated to give Greenland’s government a greater say in how U.S. military operations impacted its citizens.
In recent decades, the U.S., in cooperation with the Danish and Greenland governments, has maintained a limited military presence on the island. Under these agreements, the U.S. has had wide discretion in running military operations in Greenland for national defense. Danish and Greenland citizens now ask the obvious question: If President Trump wants to beef up the U.S. military presence in Greenland, why doesn’t he do it within the framework of existing agreements?
One argument used by President Trump is that the U.S. needs to own Greenland to secure rare earth mineral deposits on the island. The pretext for this claim is the decision by China to impose export controls on their rare earth mineral producers. The fact is that in recent years the U.S. has significantly reduced its dependence on Chinese rare earth minerals. Greenland has substantial reserves of rare earth minerals. However, access to these rare earth minerals is constrained by both technology and limited downstream facilities required to bring rare earth minerals to market. It will take many years to explore and develop Greenland’s rare earth minerals and bring them to market.
Greenland should retain control over its rare earth minerals and develop these resources to benefit its people. The proven way to do this is to rely on markets, not politics. Greenland should grant leases to multinational corporations in a competitive market. These lease agreements could generate royalties and revenue for Greenland based on market conditions. Greenland should place this royalty revenue in a sovereign wealth fund for the benefit of its citizens. The precedent for such a sovereign wealth fund is that created in Norway, the Government Pension Fund of Norway. The creation of a sovereign wealth fund could guarantee that these revenues are used to benefit Greenland’s people rather than elites, special interests, or foreign interests.
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The U.S. should support this approach to the exploration and development of rare earth resources in Greenland because it is in our national interests. In the long run, Greenland could emerge as a major partner in NATO, much like Norway. President Trump should pursue policies to strengthen NATO, not undermine it. Greenland and Denmark remain committed to this cooperative approach.
William Owens is a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is on the Board of the Prosperity for US Foundation