The history of the United States is one of extremely fortuitous land purchases from European powers. 

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson initiated the long process of Manifest Destiny with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France. For $15 million, the United States acquired 828,000 square miles of land, a parcel larger than the combined territory of today’s United Kingdom and France. At the time of purchase, the land was unproductive and sparsely populated.

Needless to say, this investment may have been the most profitable in history. The fertile Mississippi River basin was instrumental in the ascendancy by 1920 of the United States as the world’s largest economy.

In 1867, President Andrew Johnson signed the Alaska purchase, negotiated by Secretary of State William Seward, in order to entirely block future Russian settlement and trade in the Pacific Northwest. Russia sold the Alaskan territory in earnest hope that the United States would emerge as a bulwark to British power in the Pacific. 

In contemporary times, the United States may yet again purchase an enormous landmass in the far reaches of the northern hemisphere: Greenland.

The Northwest Passage and Oil

In the days of exploration, the much-vaunted Northwest Passage evoked the most glimmering possibilities. For centuries, after the discovery of the New World, European mariners sought a navigable shipping passage to Asia.

An ice-bound northern route was discovered in 1850 by the Irish explorer Robert McClure. A Norwegian, Roald Amundsen, made the first successful passage in 1903–1906. But to no avail. The dense Arctic ice pack rendered commercial shipping impractical if not impossible, and, after all, the Suez Canal, completed in 1869, was sufficient enough. 

Enter Climate Change. By 2009, the Arctic pack ice had thawed enough to facilitate experimental shipping expeditions. As it has become increasingly clear that the emissions targets established at the Paris Climate accords will not be met, the Northwest Passage will inevitably become fully navigable year-round. Experts estimate that an operable Northwest passage would cut shipping times from Europe to Asia by 10 days.

In anticipation of an enormous opportunity to reconfigure global shipping lanes and access a wealth of natural resources, Russia, China, and the United States have quietly begun to enlarge their competitive presence in the Arctic. New possibilities have emerged: not only to drastically decrease shipping times, but to recalibrate the global balance of power.

But how does permafrosted Greenland figure in the strategic ambitions of the United States?

Walter Berbrick of the Naval War College offers a suggestion: “Whoever holds Greenland will hold the Arctic. It’s the most important strategic location in the Arctic and perhaps the world.” 

The Northwest Passage is bounded by Alaska to the west and Greenland to the east. If the United States acquires Greenland and enters into partnership with Canada over its territorial waters, it will be eminently capable of establishing naval control over a shipping lane that could, within a century, potentially surpass the Suez Canal in geopolitical importance.

Beyond the vital importance of Greenland in controlling the Northwest Passage, the United States is eager to control and valorize the vast terrestrial petroleum reserves of the Arctic, which lie deep in repositories below the ancient ice. In the very recent past, the extraordinarily high extraction cost of terrestrial Arctic oil rendered investment unfeasible. This will not persist indefinitely. It is estimated that 20% of remaining oil reserves are in the Arctic. Greenland will finally live up to its extraordinarily misleading name, transforming oil barrels into dollars. 

Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark

Naturally, Denmark, of which Greenland is an autonomous territory, is fully aware of this enormous potential. But, while Denmark is a rich country, it is not a martial one. It is not unreasonable to say that Russia, presently the only serious naval and military power in the Arctic, will certainly find Greenland, which has a total of one military base and 56,000 people, highly enticing. Some initial estimates value Greenland at $1 trillion. If the United States were to pay this sum, Denmark could pay off her entire national debt and still have several hundred billion to spare. 

The United States should do all it can to purchase Greenland. In both 1867 and 1946, its offers were rebuked. In August of 2019, when President Trump and his advisors seriously raised the notion to the Danish Government, they were swiftly rejected.

There is, however, the emerging possibility that the inhabitants of Greenland choose to leave Denmark in favor of joining the United States. Indeed, as Greenland is an autonomous region of Denmark, it reserves the constitutional right to declare independence through a popular referendum. Many commentators have noted that the principal incentive for the people of Greenland to remain, is the annual financial transfer of $670 million each year from Copenhagen — a sum less than that of the municipal budget of El Paso, Texas. The United States should make clear that exceed this transfer will be enlarged enormously, however blunt and unseemly this instrument may be.  

Hence, the United States should negotiate with the people of Greenland rather than the government of Denmark. This is a course which, to some observers, has already been initiated, as plans to reopen the American Consulate in Nuuk have been ratified even as President Trump’s absurdly withdrew his self-invitation to Denmark. 

It is a very real possibility that history may repeat itself. With the consent of 56,000 people, who largely hold the cards which will determine the future of an enormously important region, the United States could purchase a vast part of the New World from a European country and assure a superior position in the Arctic.