Greenland in U.S. Arctic Strategy: A Challenge for Danish-American Relations?

Abstract

At the present moment there is an increasingly palpable desire on the part of Greenland's autonomous government to move to bilateralism in its relations with the United States, leaving Denmark out of the equation, and to expand its own diplomatic presence and powers. Since Greenland does not support militarization, it would be optimal for Denmark and the United States to expand technical "domain awareness" capabilities in the High North. The economic dimension presents the U.S. with the difficult task of supporting the creation of an efficient mining industry in Greenland, which, however, could potentially contradict the environmental priorities of the current Greenlandic government.