US and Russia squabble over Arctic security as melting ice opens up shipping routes
- Written by Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham
“You cannot annex another country.” This was the clear message given by the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, at a recent press conference[1] with the outgoing and incoming prime ministers of Greenland. It did not appear aimed at Russian president Vladimir Putin, but at Donald Trump, the president of one of her country’s closest allies, who has threatened to take over Greenland[2].
Frederiksen, speaking in Greenland’s capitak Nuuk, was stating something that is obvious under international law but can no longer be taken for granted. US foreign policy under Trump has become a major driver of this uncertainty, playing into the hands of Russian, and potentially Chinese, territorial ambitions.
The incoming Greenlandic prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, made it clear[3] that it was for Greenlanders to determine their future, not the United States. Greenland, which is controlled by Denmark, makes its own domestic policy decisions. Polls suggest a majority of islanders[4] want independence from Denmark in the future, but don’t want to be part of the US.
Trump’s interest in Greenland is often associated with the island’s vast, but largely untapped, mineral resources[5]. But its strategic location is arguably an even greater asset. Shipping routes through the Arctic have become more dependable and for longer periods of time during the year as a result of melting sea ice. The northwest passage[6] (along the US and Canadian shorelines) and the northeast passage[7] (along Russia’s Arctic coast) are often ice free now during the summer.
