Raw materials, shipping routes and missiles Trump wants much more than Greenland - Putin and Xi too
Trump's grab for Greenland is far more than just rhetoric. The USA and Russia are arming themselves in the Arctic and other countries are also getting involved in the race for the Arctic Ocean - even faraway China.
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- Trump openly announces his government's claims to Greenland. Others are expanding their presence in the Arctic more discreetly, above all Russia.
- The Arctic states are interested in the raw materials suspected to be under the seabed, which are cheaper to extract the less the sea freezes over.
- The increasingly ice-free Arctic is also becoming more interesting for shipping, as it shortens the route from Asia to Europe and the USA and bypasses the Panama and Suez Canal bottlenecks.
- Raw materials and trade routes increase the geostrategic importance of the Arctic, which is why the neighboring countries are also arming themselves there.
When President Trump talks about wanting to take over Greenland, he is talking about far more than just some additional land for the USA. It is about a presence in the Arctic, which is gaining in geostrategic importance, is rich in raw materials and will offer new opportunities for shipping in the coming decades.
Why is the Arctic becoming more important?
One of the main reasons why major and regional powers are turning to the Arctic is climate change. The year-round frozen area has shrunk significantly in the last ten years. This makes the Arctic Ocean a time-saving alternative for shipping between Asia, Europe and North America. More on shipping under point 4.
The Arctic is also rich in raw materials. These are easier to access and therefore cheaper to extract the smaller the area of ice. This has created new desires. A number of countries are laying claim to areas in international waters where oil and gas deposits are located.
New transportation routes and raw material extraction areas are increasing the geopolitical importance of the Arctic. Not only the neighboring countries Russia and the USA are increasing their presence, but also China, which is much further away. More on this under point 2.
Has Trump started the race for the Arctic?
No, because it has been more or less contested for more than 100 years.
In the Arctic, more precisely in the Bering Strait, the USA and Russia almost meet. The mainland coasts of the two countries are 85 kilometers apart, and the two Diomede Islands, one of which belongs to the USA, the other to Russia, are only 3 kilometers apart.
During the Second World War and the Cold War, the USA and the Soviet Union built up a network of military bases from which they monitored each other.
Since 1946, the USA has maintained the Pituffik Space Base on Greenland together with Denmark, which is also used for military purposes. In 2019, during his first term in office, President Trump called for the USA to buy Greenland.
After the end of the Cold War, there were efforts to turn the Arctic into a zone of peace with a minimal military presence. One example of this is the Norwegian town of Spitsbergen, which has been demilitarized and is used as a research station by 46 countries.
These times ended at the latest with the occupation of Crimea by Russia. As a result, both Moscow and Washington rearmed massively.
Other states are interested in raw materials or strategic control over the area around the North Pole.
Which states lay claim to the Arctic?
Five countries have a coastline on the Arctic Ocean: Canada, the USA, Russia, Norway and Denmark with the island of Greenland.
The Arctic has always been of great importance to Russia: Murmansk is the most important port with a connection to the Atlantic and the base for a large part of its fleet. Russia claims a larger share of the Arctic Ocean due to the Lomonosov Ridge, which lies below sea level. Canada is of the opinion that this elevation lies on the North American continental plate, which is why the area belongs to Canada. Denmark claims the area as part of Greenland.
The main issue here is access to the oil and gas deposits under the seabed. The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that 12 percent of the world's undiscovered oil reserves and 32 percent of the world's undiscovered natural gas are located there.
Then there is China, which lies around 1,400 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, but whose head of state, Xi Jinping, describes the country as a near-Arctic state and a major polar power. China backs up its claims with the presence of research projects and icebreakers cruising in the Arctic Ocean.
The Arctic is also of great importance to China as a transportation route. However, it is just as interested in the raw materials in the region as other major powers.
What does the Arctic mean for shipping?
Two shipping routes become more important the longer the Arctic Ocean is ice-free: the Northeast Passage and the Northwest Passage.
The Northeast Passage leads from the European North Atlantic north past Russia and through the Bering Strait into the Pacific. It shortens the distance from Shanghai to Rotterdam by over 20 percent, from almost 20,000 kilometers to less than 16,000 kilometers, compared to the classic route through the Indian Ocean, the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.
The Northwest Passage runs from the North Atlantic past the US and Canadian east coast through the Bering Strait into the Pacific. On this route, the distance from Rotterdam to Seattle on the US west coast is reduced from 17,220 kilometers to 12,770 kilometers compared to the journey through the Panama Canal, as "Arte" calculates in a documentary.
Even without ice, the Northwest Passage is considered difficult to navigate, as a glance at the map shows. Between the Canadian islands, the sea is not very deep in many places, making navigation challenging. There are also environmental concerns in Canada should the Northwest Passage become established as a trade route. Nevertheless, Canada is already building radar stations and other facilities to reinforce its territorial sovereignty and make shipping safer.
Russia is already expanding the Northeast Passage for the transportation of its raw materials to China. However, only a dozen ships still use this route each year, according to political scientist Klaus-Peter Saalbach, quoted by Deutsche Welle.
The Northeast Passage could also become very important for the movement of goods between East Asia, Europe and North America. However, only when the sea is free of ice, icebreaker ships are no longer required to accompany the route and there is no longer any danger from icebergs. According to forecasts, this will not be the case until between 2030 and 2040.
In addition, the political climate between Russia and the Western states will have an influence on how many freight companies will actually choose the route along the Russian coast.
A third route is also a question of time: the transpolar route, which runs directly across the North Pole instead of along the Russian or North American coast once the ice has completely melted. This could be used for at least part of the year from 2040. It would be even shorter and would also pass through international waters for the most part.
Nevertheless, the Arctic states and China are already gearing up, as control over the most important trade routes is of great geostrategic importance.
Does Trump only want Greenland for geostrategic reasons?
Trump and the USA are keen to strengthen their presence in the Arctic. They have already done this by expanding their military bases in Alaska.
But Greenland has more to offer than a central strategic position in the middle of the Arctic Ocean: raw materials. For example, the island has the world's eighth largest deposits of rare earths, which are crucial for the world's basic technical equipment - cell phones, electric cars, wind turbines and more, writes the BBC. In addition, gold is already being mined on Greenland. These reserves are also said to be considerable.
The USA already has one foot in the Arctic door with its base on Greenland. If the entire island were to become US territory, they would be establishing a presence in the middle of Russia's backyard. They could pay for their presence with the raw materials they find on the island. A bargaining chip to suit Trump's taste.