Donald Trump has renewed global focus on Greenland and the Arctic. Who controls this polar region, and why are power, security and resources at stake?
The Arctic Circle — and the sovereignty of its biggest island, Greenland — is back in the international geopolitical spotlight.
"We need Greenland for national security and even international security. And we’re working with everybody involved to try and get it," US President Donald Trump said in a speech to the US Congress on March 4.
"One way or the other, we’re going to get it."
Even on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly called into question the sovereignty of two Arctic nations, Denmark and Canada. Not only does he want the US to acquire Greenland, a Danish territory — a prospect vocally opposed by Copenhagen and the territory's semiautonomous government — but he has also floated the idea of Canada becoming a US state.
And with tensions rising between other Arctic nations, particularly Russia, what used to be a cooperative relationship between countries in the region has fragmented.
Amid a scramble to shore up valuable resource reserves, are the Arctic's relatively peaceful days soon to be a thing of the past?
Frosty diplomatic relations
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