‘This is Our Biggest Conflict Since WWII’: Dr. Frank Sejersen

President Donald Trump’s recent interest in Greenland has stirred fear, stress and betrayal in the Arctic island, according to Dr. Frank Sejersen. Denmark is an important ally to the United States, and Trump’s desire for Greenland has created a frenzy of diplomatic discussions and strained global relationships.

Greenland’s strategic location and mineral rich land make it a valuable asset to U.S. national security. The island is currently a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, who have a long colonial history with the local Inuit population who make up about 89% of the population. The ongoing conversation on U.S. desires for Greenland has come as a huge shock in Denmark, Sejersen said.

Sejersen is an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen in the Greenlandic and Arctic studies department. He has also studied and worked with environmental, human rights and political issues in the Arctic for over 30 years.

The Danish perspective is often left out of conversations on the U.S. and Greenland. Sejersen said that the “Danish self-perception” is that they consider the U.S their best and most important ally—reconfiguring their military to coincide with American forces, fighting in American wars.

With Trump claiming that the U.S. “needs” Greenland, this longstanding allyship has become strained.

“Suddenly, this kind of wish to integrate to have more control over Greenland came as a huge shock,” Sejersen said. “What we are saying in Denmark, that this is our biggest foreign conflict since the Second World War. Suddenly, the U.S. is positioned as we [Denmark] need to be careful.”

But Denmark is only a colonial power over Greenland. The Arctic island is a semi-autonomous territory of the kingdom of Denmark since the 2009 Self-Government Act. The Greenlandic people “are a people with right to self-determination under international law.”

Over time, Greenland has gained some independence from Denmark, but the reality is that their status as an autonomous territory of Denmark gives them the same many benefits that Danes receive, like free healthcare and education. Denmark also provides Greenland with an annual block grant of 3.9 billion DKK, or about $511 million USD. This boosts Greenland’s GDP and supplies over half of its public budget.

Whether or not Greenland truly benefits from Denmark’s colonization depends on who you ask, Sejersen said.

“Some people in Greenland would say, ‘We don’t benefit at all. We are kind of Muppets in a Danish show,’” he said. “Most people in Greenland want independence. But the question is, at what price? And how fast? And what kind of relations do we want to have with the international world?”

Why does Trump want Greenland?

Greenland is the world’s largest island, covering approximately 836,000 square miles. About 80% of its surface is covered by a massive ice sheet. But its strategic location in the Arctic is a huge factor in Trump’s interest in the island.

The U.S. has operated the Pituffik Space Base, formerly Thule Air Base, in northwestern Greenland since 1943 under a defense agreement with Denmark.

Trump has made it clear the primary reason he wants Greenland for the U.S. is national security. With Greenland, Trump would have a clearer path to his “Golden Dome” defense system.

The Arctic island is rich in minerals, ranking eighth globally for rare earth elements (REE). Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the U.S. doesn’t need REE.

“Everyone talks about the minerals. There’s so many,” Trump said. “There’s no such thing as rare earth. There’s rare processing. But there’s so much rare earth. And to get to this rare earth, you got to go through hundreds of feet of ice. That’s not the reason we need it. We need it for strategic national security and international security.”

Greenland’s rich supply of critical and rare elements is a bonus. It could make the U.S. a major player in REE supply against China, who currently dominates the global market.

“It’s not a question of; do they have minerals? Yes, they have a lot of minerals. But is it worthwhile compared to importing it from South America or wherever?” Sejersen said.

The U.S. and Greenland

What Greenland would look like under U.S. control is unknown, but Sejersen has worries of his own.

“A hypothetical American presence in Greenland… would that undermine democracy? And the democratic rules that they have decided, that communities should be protected?” He said. “That local people should be involved in mining, you’re not allowed to destroy the environment and you have to obey human rights. You know, some of the rules that make up the world order.”

A 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the U.S. allowed the American military to establish a presence in Greenland. The current diplomatic conversations on U.S. interests in Greenland center around this agreement and how to interpret it now, Sejersen said.

Trump is currently pushing to expand American military bases and presence in Greenland as he continues to argue for American pursuit of the island.

“Everybody understands that Greenland has some major importance for the defense of the United States. Nobody denies that,” he said. “That’s why this agreement from 1951 is so important and has always been important.”

Beyond national security, Sejersen isn’t convinced that the U.S. needs Greenland for its natural resources, particularly critical minerals.

Greenland is under a global spotlight more than ever. What is seen as a giant ice sheet also inhabits a highly skillful Inuit community.

“What a lot of people in Greenland would like would be to be is respected, as highly skillful diplomats, as intellectuals, as diligent politicians, as entrepreneurs,” Sejersen said. “They want to maintain Inuit identity, but they want to escape the stereotypes that are created in people’s minds whenever you hear the word Inuit. The conceptualization that non-Inuit have is sneaking in to a lot of conversations and undermine a more constructive dialogue.”

---

This story is part of a semester-long investigative reporting project into Greenland’s people, history, and culture. It was created by an advanced reporting class in the Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies program at UW-Milwaukee. Other stories from the project are available on Edge of the Arctic: Greenland, the Land of the People.

This work was made possible through the support of MPC Endowment Ltd., the philanthropic affiliate of the Milwaukee Press Club, and a private donor.