{"id":2390439,"date":"2025-01-15T08:17:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T13:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/yes-trumps-bold-greenland-plan-could-actually-work\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T08:20:05","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T13:20:05","slug":"yes-trumps-bold-greenland-plan-could-actually-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/yes-trumps-bold-greenland-plan-could-actually-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes, Trump&#8217;s Bold Greenland Plan Could Actually Work"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fyes-trumps-bold-greenland-plan-could-actually-work%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2390439&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s proposal to explore a\u2063 closer relationship between the \u200dUnited States and Greenland, potentially including its incorporation into the Union, reflects his unconventional approach to problem-solving. This \u2063suggestion has prompted significant \u200dbacklash from political elites and media commentators. However,\u200c there are notable geopolitical advantages to strengthening ties with Greenland, particularly considering its strategic location\u200b facing the Arctic\u2063 Ocean, an area increasingly\u200d contested for its\u2064 natural resources, especially as russia seeks dominance in the region.<\/p>\n<p>greenland is rich in valuable resources, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-odonnell-what-the-founders-can-teach-us-about-supply-chains-and-dependency\/\" title=\"Exclusive--O&#039;Donnell: What the Founders Can Teach Us About Supply Chains and Dependency\">rare earth metals<\/a>,\u2063 which are critical for technologies vital to U.S. national security. Its geographic importance is further \u2063heightened by its \u2064long atlantic coasts, which are crucial for transit routes \u200bconnecting\u200c Europe and America. \u2064Additionally, the potential effects of climate change could\u200d enhance \u2064Greenland&#8217;s\u200b geopolitical relevance, especially regarding the Northwest Passage\u2014an <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">emerging critical shipping route<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding international law, the prevailing consensus\u2064 since World War II is that territory cannot be transferred between autonomous states without mutual \u2062agreement, a principle that has largely\u200d contributed to global peace. Still, territories \u200bcan\u200b be acquired by agreement among sovereign entities,\u2063 which now includes \u2062the consent of\u200d local populations. The United Nations historically supported Greenland&#8217;s right to self-determination when it was classified as a \u200cnon-self-governing \u2062territory between 1946 and 1954.While Denmark ended this status,Greenland&#8217;s autonomy and \u200bfuture aspirations remain matters of\u2063 geopolitical interest.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>President-elect Donald Trump&rsquo;s suggestion that the United States explore a closer relationship with Greenland &mdash; up to and including that immense territory, the largest island in the world, joining the Union &mdash; epitomizes his out-of-the-box thinking. President Trump deployed that sort of thinking to powerful effect in his first term in office. It&rsquo;s how he tackled such seemingly insoluble problems as energy supply, immigration, and Middle East peace.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-cant-deny-responsibility-for-our-so-so-divided-nation\/\" title=\"Biden Can\u2019t Deny Responsibility For Our \u2018So, So Divided\u2019 Nation\">president-elect&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s Greenland suggestion has triggered predictable hyperventilation and pearl-clutching among editorial page writers and elites in Washington, D.C., and foreign capitals alike. However, the United States getting closer to Greenland has obvious geopolitical benefits &mdash; and less obvious but strong grounding in international law. Let&rsquo;s unpack the geopolitics and then the international law.<\/p>\n<p>Greenland holds a crucial position facing the Arctic Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean is a focal point of growing contestation over the vast natural resources that its seabed contains. Russia is maneuvering aggressively to dominate the Arctic, a challenge to the United States that Greenland would help meet.<\/p>\n<p>Greenland itself contains important wealth, not least of all rare earth metals. China seeks to corner the market on rare earth metals because these are indispensable to a range of technologies critical to American national security. Greenland would help with rare earth metals.<\/p>\n<p>Greenland&rsquo;s long Atlantic coasts, east and west, are also strategically important, adjacent as they are to the transit routes from Europe to America. If global warming really happens, Greenland&rsquo;s geopolitical importance will only grow, in part because Greenland commands the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage &mdash; the Arctic route connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific that would become one of the world&rsquo;s chief oceanic lines of communication if its waters turn less icy.<\/p>\n<p>What about international law? Isn&rsquo;t it against the law to take another country&rsquo;s territory? Since World War II, countries have largely come to accept that territory does not change hands between independent nation-states unless they agree. This is a good arrangement. It takes away one of the biggest causes of war.<\/p>\n<p>For hundreds of years before, countries thought that armed conquest was a lawful means to gain territory from other countries, and many wars broke out when one sovereign tried to take a territory against the wishes of the nation-state that owned it. Largely ending the forcible taking of territory from independent nation-states was arguably the biggest gain for international peace and stability in modern times. It would be imprudent to go back to the old days of country-against-country land grab by military force.<\/p>\n<p>But countries have <em>always <\/em>accepted that a sovereign might acquire a territory by agreement. This used to mean agreement between kings and other sovereigns. Today, it also means the consent of the inhabitants of the territory. <\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, the United Nations, of all institutions, accepts that particular territories have a broad right to choose their own future. Greenland, for a time, was explicitly one of those territories. From 1946 to 1954, Greenland was a non-self-governing territory for purposes of Chapter XI of the UN Charter. Denmark discontinued Greenland&rsquo;s formal UN status in 1954, <a href=\"https:\/\/press.uchicago.edu\/ucp\/books\/book\/distributed\/P\/bo14317457.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in part out of concerns over UN interference in the territory<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>However, from 1979 onwards, Denmark has recognized under its own domestic law that Greenland is self-governing; and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/greenlands-leader-steps-up-push-independence-denmark-2025-01-03\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in 2009<\/a> Denmark made clear that Greenland has the right to declare independence through a referendum, if its people choose to hold one. For over a half-century, most international lawyers have accepted &mdash; and the UN has, too &mdash; that a right of that kind entails <a href=\"https:\/\/www.refworld.org\/legal\/resolution\/unga\/1960\/en\/7191\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">several options<\/a> for a territory like Greenland. Greenland&rsquo;s people may choose to keep the status quo. They may choose independence. They also have the right to choose association with, or even union in, another nation-state. It is under this third available option that a clear path opens, if both Greenland and the United States want it, for Greenland to enter a new sovereign relationship with the United States.<\/p>\n<p>What would such a relationship look like? Again, it would be for Greenland and the United States to negotiate. Experience shows that sovereign nations &mdash; including the United States &mdash; may encompass territories under a variety of constitutional settlements. A number of territories are part of the United States without being states of the United States &mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/oia\/islands\/guam#:~:text=Guam%2520became%2520a%2520U.S.%2520territory,the%2520Department%2520of%2520the%2520Interior.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Guam<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/home.nps.gov\/npsa\/planyourvisit\/frequently-asked-questions.htm#:~:text=What%2520is%2520the%2520political%2520status,vote%2520in%2520U.S.%2520presidential%2520elections.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">American Samoa<\/a>, the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/oia\/islands\/cnmi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Northern Mariana Islands<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/oia\/islands\/virgin-islands\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">U.S. Virgin Islands<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/history.state.gov\/historicaldocuments\/frus1952-54v03\/d902\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Puerto Rico<\/a> in particular. Other creative relationships are possible &mdash; for example, the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Palau are independent nation-states (and UN Member States) in Free Association with the United States. Free Association is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/oia\/compacts-of-free-association\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">close and deep relationship<\/a>, which, if designed and led properly, assures the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-most-humane-goal-for-ukraine-is-the-quickest-negotiated-settlement-possible\/\" title=\"The Most Humane Goal For Ukraine Is The Quickest Negotiated Settlement Possible\">vital security interests<\/a> of both parties. It&rsquo;s one among a range of possible deals that Greenland and the United States might consider.<\/p>\n<p>So President Trump&rsquo;s call for a fresh look at our relationship with Greenland hopefully will open a dialogue, at least in Washington to start, because a closer relationship would bring great benefits for American security. Moreover, Greenland coming closer to the United States has solid precedents in both international law and our own constitutional system. <\/p>\n<p>President Trump has confounded the political elite &mdash; both in Washington, D.C., and foreign capitals &mdash; time and again with bold ideas that work. With Greenland, he is doing it once again &mdash; with great possibilities ahead.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Thomas D. Grant practices international law and is an academic at the University of Cambridge. He served in the first Trump administration, 2019-2021, as Senior Advisor for Strategic Planning under the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. The opinions expressed in this article are his alone and do not necessarily reflect views or positions of the Trump Transition or any other organization or individual.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump&#8217;s idea of a closer U.S.-Greenland relationship showcases his innovative thinking<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3615,"featured_media":2390440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-Untitled-2025-01-14T110418.403.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[48532,47289,32402,5894,3634],"class_list":["post-2390439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bold-plan","tag-greenland","tag-international-relations","tag-politics","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-Untitled-2025-01-14T110418.403.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3615"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2390439"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2390443,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2390439\/revisions\/2390443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2390440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2390439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2390439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2390439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}