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Greenland: The Strategic Center of the High North
Icebergs float in a fjord near the south Greenland town of Narsaq July 28, 2009. REUTERS/Bob Strong
President Donald Trump has reignited interest in the strategic status of the island of Greenland following his proposal to purchase it from Denmark, which controls it. The previous Trump administration had already proposed to purchase the island.
Greenland is a central part of the Arctic region, an area that is of substantial geopolitical significance. The increased focus on the island’s strategic value has been accompanied by calls from its Inuit residents to make the local government in Nuuk (Greenland’s capital) fully independent of Denmark. While recent statements by Trump about his intentions have stoked tensions, Denmark is conducting secret talks with the US to expand American military bases.
The region is important because the melting of the glaciers is creating potential economic and strategic opportunities. The US, Russia, and China are all taking steps to strengthen their military presence in the area. In 2014, Denmark and Greenland claimed an area of 895,000 square kilometers beyond the Arctic Circle and up to the border of the Russian exclusive economic zone. Denmark also has claims to the Lomonosov Ridge, which it sees as a geological extension of Greenland. For its part, Russia has territorial claims against Norway, which has expanded its continental shelf to include the Barents Sea, the Arctic Ocean and the Norwegian Sea.
Denmark, which officially maintains its sovereignty in the region, has struggled to preserve the Arctic island’s Danish identity and set its agenda. The two share a long history of power struggles. In late 1826, a trade treaty was signed between Denmark, Sweden, and Norway that included recognition of Danish sovereignty over Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. William H. Seward, the US Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869 who spearheaded the purchase of Alaska from Russia, also proposed — without success — that the US purchase Greenland and Iceland from Denmark.
During World War I, Denmark sold the West Indies to the US in return for American recognition of its claim to extend its sovereignty to all of Greenland. In 1919, the Norwegian Foreign Minister expressed his government’s explicit recognition of Denmark’s ownership of Greenland, following negotiations that resulted in the transfer of the Arctic island of Spitsbergen to Norway. In 1933, a decisive judgment was issued recognizing Danish sovereignty over all of Greenland as part of a legal battle between Denmark and Norway. A tribunal of judges rejected the Norwegian argument that parts of Greenland were no-man’s land. Following the judgment, the Norwegian government declared that it was rescinding its ownership of East Greenland. In return, Denmark announced that it would not harm Norway’s economic interests in the island.
Fast forward to today. In recent years, Denmark has adopted a renewed defense strategy in the Arctic region, which includes Greenland and the Faroe Islands. As a result, it has accelerated its armament while striving for close security cooperation with the Nordic countries in the protection of critical infrastructure especially in the Arctic region and the Baltic Sea. The Norwegian General Staff increased Nordic cooperation by establishing a Nordic Air Force Command as part of the NATO command structure. Norway notes that it is necessary to recognize the military challenges along the Finnish-Russian border, the strategic location of the Swedish island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, and the importance of the Danish Straits that connect the Baltic and North Seas.
At the same time, Denmark has pledged to be a significant player in the Arctic. In December 2019, at the NATO summit in London, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen revealed plans to spend two hundred million euros on promoting a renewed strategy for the Arctic region, and in June 2022, Denmark and the Faroe Islands agreed to install an early warning radar system around the islands. In view of the war in Ukraine, the Faroe Islands extended the ban on Russian vessels entering their ports, a move that aligns with the Danish government’s commitment to expand its defense infrastructure investment to an average of 143 billion Danish kroner over the coming decade.
The latest moves were also made under pressure from the Pentagon, which called for increased Danish involvement amid concerns that the government in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, would find it difficult to refuse generous offers from China to increase its exposure and economic activity on the island. These actions correspond with Denmark’s policy on Greenland, which prohibits Chinese companies from building an airport on the island. The Americans are also conducting broader exercises in the region, and airborne divisions are training to increase their mobility to be more effective on a future battlefield. When these units operate in Greenland, they operate on missions on behalf of the Joint Arctic Command.
While Trump’s belligerent rhetoric is not conducive to negotiation, the Danes are nevertheless trying to form direct secret understandings with Trump’s people in order to increase the American presence in the region. The Danish public may be taken aback by Trump’s style of speech, but the government in Copenhagen gained experience dealing with a Trump administration during his previous term in office. It can be assumed that the government in Copenhagen is formulating a plan of action. It will allow Trump’s public statements to gain political capital, but will at the same time build discreet confidential or unofficial understandings with him to expand American activities.
Furthermore, NATO sees the Nordic countries as a vital factor in strengthening regional security and is developing an Arctic military strategy that involves large-scale exercises throughout the Nordic region. In 2018, a NATO exercise held in Norway showcased a significant demonstration of military strength. This large-scale maneuver involved NATO forces practicing a comprehensive offensive, including an assault on the Arctic coastline. NATO has also begun a renewed series of exercises and operations designed to respond to the Russian submarine threat in the region. These exercises, called Dynamic Mongoose, took place in the Norwegian Sea and adjacent areas and included most of the fleets of NATO’s northern flank.
The US has also been refining its Arctic policy through strategic military deployments. These include stationing a B1-Lancer squadron in Norway, establishing a naval operations center in Iceland, and conducting submarine-based exercises to ensure high operational readiness in the high north. Notably, in 2022, the US conducted the largest military exercise within the Arctic Circle in Norway since the 1980s, further underscoring the growing strategic importance of the region.
These developments reflect a concerted effort by NATO and its allies to enhance their preparedness and maintain stability in the evolving Arctic security landscape. The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO slightly alters the military balance in the Arctic region while also supporting non-military initiatives that both countries have actively promoted in recent years.
Therefore, one should avoid drawing conclusions about a political clash between the Americans and the Danes. The latest challenges point to cooperation in the Arctic region. The government in Copenhagen has approved the resumption of Cold War-era radar activity on the Faroe Islands. In 2023 and 2024, two pairs of satellites were launched to monitor more than two million square kilometers of the Arctic Circle. This is to improve the intelligence capabilities of the US, and there is a high probability that this agreement also applies to Greenland.
Alongside these moves, there is the Arctic Security Forces Roundtable (ASFR), which serves as a platform for military leaders from Arctic and observer states to strengthen multilateral security cooperation. Denmark also encourages cooperation with the European Commission and Naalakkersuisut (the government of Greenland), which have initiated the EU Arctic Forum on Inuit Dialogue. In this context, Denmark acts as a liaison between the interests of the EU and the people of Greenland, with the participation of the current Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
Nordic leaders have consistently demonstrated their ability to settle regional disputes without compromising broader Arctic cooperation. For instance, ecological concerns arising from a decade-long dispute among Iceland, the European Union, the Faroe Islands, and Norway were successfully addressed, leading to collaborative efforts to preserve the region. Similarly, disputes around Svalbard—related to the application of the Svalbard Treaty to the continental shelf surrounding the archipelago—were resolved. These disagreements, sparked by developments in the Norwegian Arctic as a potential resource hub, were effectively compartmentalized, ensuring they did not negatively impact overall Arctic cooperation.
The resolution of such disputes has maintained stability in the region, reinforcing the preference of Nordic states for peaceful and collaborative Arctic relations. However, recent suspicions and events highlight the need for strengthened security arrangements, including military exercises and enhanced surveillance capabilities by Nordic air forces to deter unexpected actions in the Arctic.
Meanwhile, Nuuk’s push for greater autonomy has raised concerns in the US, prompting warnings about potentially taking control of Greenland to prevent foreign interference. These developments are likely to foster dialogue between the US and Denmark on Greenland’s future, with the aim of avoiding political escalation and preserving regional stability.
Dr. Nir Levitan is a researcher at the BESA Center at Bar-Ilan University and at the Center for Cold War Studies at the University of Southern Denmark. A version of this article was originally published by The BESA Center.
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Israel Blocks Ramallah Meeting with Arab Ministers, Israeli Official Says
A closed Israeli military gate stands near Ramallah in the West Bank, February 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Israel will not allow a planned meeting in the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah, in the West Bank, to go ahead, an Israeli official said on Saturday, after Arab ministers planning to attend were stopped from coming.
The move, days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government announced one of the largest expansions of settlements in the West Bank in years, underlined escalating tensions over the issue of international recognition of a future Palestinian state.
Saturday’s meeting comes ahead of an international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, that is due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood, which Israel fiercely opposes.
The delegation of senior Arab officials due to visit Ramallah – including the Jordanian, Egyptian, Saudi Arabian and Bahraini foreign ministers – postponed the visit after “Israel’s obstruction of it,” Jordan’s foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that the block was “a clear breach of Israel’s obligations as an occupying force.”
The ministers required Israeli consent to travel to the West Bank from Jordan.
An Israeli official said the ministers intended to take part in “a provocative meeting” to discuss promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“Such a state would undoubtedly become a terrorist state in the heart of the land of Israel,” the official said. “Israel will not cooperate with such moves aimed at harming it and its security.”
A Saudi source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud had delayed a planned trip to the West Bank.
Israel has come under increasing pressure from the United Nations and European countries which favour a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, under which an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that recognizing a Palestinian state was not only a “moral duty but a political necessity.”
Palestinians want the West Bank territory, which was seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, as the core of a future state along with Gaza and East Jerusalem.
But the area is now criss-crossed with settlements that have squeezed some 3 million Palestinians into pockets increasingly cut off from each other though a network of military checkpoints.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said the announcement this week of 22 new settlements in the West Bank was an “historic moment” for settlements and “a clear message to Macron.” He said recognition of a Palestinian state would be “thrown into the dustbin of history.”
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Gaza Aid Supplies Hit by Looting as Hamas Ceasefire Response Awaited
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Armed men hijacked dozens of aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip overnight and hundreds of desperate Palestinians joined in to take supplies, local aid groups said on Saturday as officials waited for Hamas to respond to the latest ceasefire proposals.
The incident was the latest in a series that has underscored the shaky security situation hampering the delivery of aid into Gaza, following the easing of a weeks-long Israeli blockade earlier this month.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he believed a ceasefire agreement was close but Hamas has said it is still studying the latest proposals from his special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. The White House said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to the proposals.
The proposals would see a 60-day truce and the exchange of 28 of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza for more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, along with the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.
On Saturday, the Israeli military, which relaunched its air and ground campaign in March following a two-month truce, said it was continuing to hit targets in Gaza, including sniper posts and had killed what it said was the head of a Hamas weapons manufacturing site.
The campaign has cleared large areas along the boundaries of the Gaza Strip, squeezing the population of more than 2 million into an ever narrower section along the coast and around the southern city of Khan Younis.
Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies entering the enclave at the beginning of March in an effort to weaken Hamas and has found itself under increasing pressure from an international community shocked by the increasingly desperate humanitarian situation the blockade has created.
The United Nations said on Friday the situation in Gaza is the worst since the start of the war began 19 months ago, with the entire population facing the risk of famine despite a resumption of limited aid deliveries earlier this month.
Israel has been allowing a limited number of trucks from the World Food Program and other international groups to bring flour to bakeries in Gaza but deliveries have been hampered by repeated incidents of looting.
At the same time, a separate system, run by a US-backed group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been delivering meals and food packages at three designated distribution sites.
However, aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF, which they say is not neutral, and say the amount of aid allowed in falls far short of the needs of a population at risk of famine.
“The aid that’s being sent now makes a mockery of the mass tragedy unfolding under our watch,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the main U.N. relief organization for Palestinians, said in a message on the social media platform X.
NO BREAD IN WEEKS
The World Food Program said it brought 77 trucks carrying flour into Gaza overnight and early on Saturday and all of them were stopped on the way, with food taken by hungry people.
“After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by,” it said in a statement.
Amjad Al-Shawa, head of an umbrella group representing Palestinian aid groups, said the dire situation was being exploited by armed groups which were attacking some of the aid convoys.
He said hundreds more trucks were needed and accused Israel of a “systematic policy of starvation.”
Overnight on Saturday, he said trucks had been stopped by armed groups near Khan Younis as they were headed towards a World Food Programme warehouse in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza and hundreds of desperate people had carried off supplies.
“We could understand that some are driven by hunger and starvation, some may not have eaten bread in several weeks, but we can’t understand armed looting, and it is not acceptable at all,” he said.
Israel says it is facilitating aid deliveries, pointing to its endorsement of the new GHF distribution centers and its consent for other aid trucks to enter Gaza.
Instead it accuses Hamas of stealing supplies intended for civilians and using them to entrench its hold on Gaza, which it had been running since 2007.
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Hamas Seeks Changes in US Gaza Proposal; Witkoff Calls Response ‘Unacceptable’
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Hamas said on Saturday it was seeking amendments to a US-backed proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Israel in Gaza, but President Donald Trump’s envoy rejected the group’s response as “totally unacceptable.”
The Palestinian terrorist group said it was willing to release 10 living hostages and hand over the bodies of 18 dead in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. But Hamas reiterated demands for an end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, conditions Israel has rejected.
A Hamas official described the group’s response to the proposals from Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff as “positive” but said it was seeking some amendments. The official did not elaborate on the changes being sought by the group.
“This response aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to our people in the Strip,” Hamas said in a statement.
The proposals would see a 60-day truce and the exchange of 28 of the 58 hostages still held in Gaza for more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, along with the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.
A Palestinian official familiar with the talks told Reuters that among amendments Hamas is seeking is the release of the hostages in three phases over the 60-day truce and more aid distribution in different areas. Hamas also wants guarantees the deal will lead to a permanent ceasefire, the official said.
There was no immediate response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office to the Hamas statement.
Israel has previously rejected Hamas’ conditions, instead demanding the complete disarmament of the group and its dismantling as a military and governing force, along with the return of all 58 remaining hostages.
Trump said on Friday he believed a ceasefire agreement was close after the latest proposals, and the White House said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to the terms.
Saying he had received Hamas’ response, Witkoff wrote in a posting on X: “It is totally unacceptable and only takes us backward. Hamas should accept the framework proposal we put forward as the basis for proximity talks, which we can begin immediately this coming week.”
On Saturday, the Israeli military said it had killed Mohammad Sinwar, Hamas’ Gaza chief on May 13, confirming what Netanyahu said earlier this week.
Sinwar, the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the group’s deceased leader and mastermind of the October 2023 attack on Israel, was the target of an Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza. Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied his death.
The Israeli military, which relaunched its air and ground campaign in March following a two-month truce, said on Saturday it was continuing to hit targets in Gaza, including sniper posts and had killed what it said was the head of a Hamas weapons manufacturing site.
The campaign has cleared large areas along the boundaries of the Gaza Strip, squeezing the population of more than 2 million into an ever narrower section along the coast and around the southern city of Khan Younis.
Israel imposed a blockade on all supplies entering the enclave at the beginning of March in an effort to weaken Hamas and has found itself under increasing pressure from an international community shocked by the desperate humanitarian situation the blockade has created.
On Saturday, aid groups said dozens of World Food Program trucks carrying flour to Gaza bakeries had been hijacked by armed groups and subsequently looted by people desperate for food after weeks of mounting hunger.
“After nearly 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving and they are no longer willing to watch food pass them by,” the WFP said in a statement.
‘A MOCKERY’
The incident was the latest in a series that has underscored the shaky security situation hampering the delivery of aid into Gaza, following the easing of a weeks-long Israeli blockade earlier this month.
The United Nations said on Friday the situation in Gaza is the worst since the start of the war 19 months ago, with the entire population facing the risk of famine despite a resumption of limited aid deliveries earlier this month.
“The aid that’s being sent now makes a mockery of the mass tragedy unfolding under our watch,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the main U.N. relief organization for Palestinians, said in a message on X.
Israel has been allowing a limited number of trucks from the World Food Program and other international groups to bring flour to bakeries in Gaza but deliveries have been hampered by repeated incidents of looting.
A separate system, run by a US-backed group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has been delivering meals and food packages at three designated distribution sites.
However, aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF, which they say is not neutral, and say the amount of aid allowed in falls far short of the needs of a population at risk of famine.
Amjad Al-Shawa, head of an umbrella group representing Palestinian aid groups, said the dire situation was being exploited by armed groups which were attacking some of the aid convoys.
He said hundreds more trucks were needed and accused Israel of a “systematic policy of starvation.”
Israel denies operating a policy of starvation and says it is facilitating aid deliveries, pointing to its endorsement of the new GHF distribution centers and its consent for other aid trucks to enter Gaza.
Instead it accuses Hamas of stealing supplies intended for civilians and using them to entrench its hold on Gaza, which it had been running since 2007.
Hamas denies looting supplies and has executed a number of suspected looters.
The post Hamas Seeks Changes in US Gaza Proposal; Witkoff Calls Response ‘Unacceptable’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.