While the US is blatantly revealing its ambition to seize Venezuelan oil, it is also escalating its attempts to annex the territory of Greenland
On January 7, the Donald Trump administration stated that it is internally reviewing plans to purchase Greenland from Denmark and plans to meet directly with officials next week to proceed with discussions regarding Greenland.
Greenland is located at the gateway connecting the Arctic and the Atlantic, making it vital for both the security and trade of the nations surrounding it.
For instance, because the shortest path for a Russian ballistic missile launch would pass through the skies over Greenland and the Arctic, the US has utilized Greenland as a strategic defense stronghold since the Cold War era. Furthermore, surveillance assets in this region are essential for the “Golden Dome” missile defense system envisioned by the Donald Trump administration.
In addition, Greenland and its surrounding waters are rich in natural resources such as rare earth, oil, and gas.
In the case of rare earths, since Greenland is a land covered in ice, mining was not a focus in the past because low business feasibility due to high extraction costs. However, as parts of the territory have begun to melt under the influence of global warming, the possibility of rare earth mining has increased.
According to the 2023 report Assessment of the Critical Raw Material Resource Potential in Greenland by the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), the amount of rare earths buried in Greenland is 36.1 million tons. This is estimated to be second only to China (44 million tons)—which ranks first in global rare earth reserves. Currently, the second and third-ranked countries are Russia and Vietnam (21 million to 22 million tons), but if Greenland’s rare earth reserves are formalized, it will surpass them.
