Greenland at the Center of a Transatlantic Power Struggle: Trump, Arctic Militarization, and Europe’s Strategic Dilemma
The Arctic has long been treated as a peripheral theater of global politics—remote, frozen, and diplomatically quiet. That perception no longer holds. Denmark’s decision to send a “substantial contribution” of troops to Greenland following renewed rhetoric from Donald Trump has pushed the island back into the center of transatlantic strategic debate. The move underscores how quickly the Arctic is becoming a zone of military signaling, political coercion, and alliance stress. Trump’s refusal to rule out seizing Greenland , combined with reports that he suggested to Norway’s prime minister that his fixation on the island was linked to being snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize , may sound erratic. Strategically, however, the implications are serious. When such rhetoric is paired with threats of tariffs against opposing states, it blurs the line between economic pressure, personal grievance, and national security policy. European leaders now face a familiar but intensifying dilemm...