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https://theconversation.com/trumps-greenland-grab-is-part-of-a-new-space-race-and-the-stakes-are-getting-higher-274111>
"US President Donald Trump’s position on Greenland has shifted almost daily,
from threats to take it by force to assurances he won’t. But one thing remains
consistent: his insistence the Arctic island is strategically vital to the
United States.
Within hours of the president’s speech at this week’s Davos summit, Reports
began circulating that Washington and Copenhagen had quietly discussed giving
the US small, remote patches of Greenland for new military sites. Nothing
confirmed, everything whispered, but the speed of the speculation said a lot.
What once felt like Trumpian theatre suddenly looked like a real geopolitical
move. It was also a hint Arctic power plays are now bleeding into the politics
of outer space.
This all happened very quickly. The notion the US might buy Greenland from
Denmark (which resurfaced in 2019) was at first treated like a late-night
comedy sketch.
But behind the jokes lay a growing unease the Trump administration’s fixation
with Greenland was part of a wider geostrategic ambition in the “western
hemisphere” – and beyond.
That’s because Greenland sits at the crossroads of two fast-shifting frontiers:
a warming Arctic that will change shipping routes, and an increasingly
militarised outer space.
As global tensions rise, the island has become a geopolitical pressure gauge,
revealing how the old international legal order is beginning to fray.
At the centre of it all is Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as Thule Air
Base. Once a Cold War outpost, it’s now a key part of the US military’s Space
Force hub, vital for everything from missile detection to climate tracking.
In a world where orbit is the new high ground, that visibility is strategic
gold."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
