Summary: Greenland has become one of the world’s most strategically important territories because of geography, Arctic shipping routes, missile warning infrastructure, and competition for critical minerals. This is not a personality story. It is the long-term reality of power politics returning to the High North.

Greenland’s geography makes it a global strategic hinge

Greenland sits between North America and Europe, close to the shortest routes across the Arctic for aircraft, satellites, and long-range missile trajectories.

In geopolitical terms, it functions as a bridge and a buffer, and those roles grow more valuable as the Arctic becomes more accessible.

The Arctic is opening and trade routes are shifting

As sea ice retreats, Arctic sea lanes are becoming more usable for longer periods each year. That changes the economics of moving goods between Asia, Europe, and North America.

Shorter routes mean time savings, cost savings, and leverage. Control of access points and infrastructure becomes a strategic advantage.

Missile warning and space surveillance make Greenland indispensable

Greenland hosts critical Western defence infrastructure, including Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base), which supports missile warning and space surveillance missions.

This provides early detection and tracking capability for threats approaching over the pole, strengthening North Atlantic security in real terms.

“Pituffik Space Base supports Missile Warning, Missile Defense and Space Surveillance missions.”

Russia treats the Arctic as a core military theatre

Russia has expanded its Arctic posture, reopening and modernising bases and investing heavily in capabilities suited to polar operations.

The logic is straightforward: the Arctic is a direct approach route, and the infrastructure built there becomes long-term leverage.

China’s Arctic ambitions are built on infrastructure and influence

China promotes a long-term Arctic strategy tied to research, shipping, and infrastructure participation, including what it has described as a “Polar Silk Road”.

In practice, influence often grows through ports, airports, communications, and investment. Strategic exposure can begin as commercial activity.

China has described plans for a “Polar Silk Road” linked to developing Arctic shipping routes.

Critical minerals and supply chains raise the stakes

Greenland holds deposits of rare earth minerals and other resources used in defence manufacturing, advanced electronics, and modern industry.

With global supply chains increasingly politicised, Western governments are seeking resilience and diversification away from single points of dependency.

What this means for the UK and NATO

For Britain, Greenland’s rising importance reinforces the case for hard-nosed realism: credible NATO deterrence, secure North Atlantic sea lanes, and resilient supply chains.

Brexit has also clarified the UK’s interest in direct strategic relationships and practical defence priorities rather than relying on Brussels consensus politics.

In the High North, values statements are not a substitute for capability. Geography shapes outcomes, and the Arctic is now central to that equation.