Rather than trying to take it by force, the U.S. military should increase its presence on the island and work with NATO to strengthen Arctic security

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Less than a day after the U.S. launched air strikes against Venezuela and captured its president, U.S. President Donald Trump started spouting off about his desire to take over Greenland, highlighting the fundamental problem with his approach to foreign affairs: while many of his policies — such as imposing tariffs on China and toppling Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro — could strengthen the West and weaken its enemies, his propensity to impose equally punitive measures on friendly nations has us continually fighting among ourselves, playing right into the hands of our adversaries.

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Trump claims that the U.S. needs Greenland, a self-governing autonomous territory of Denmark, for “national security” reasons, and he’s not entirely wrong. The U.S. tried numerous times in the past to purchase the world’s largest island, most recently in 1946, but ultimately concluded a 1951 defence pact with Denmark that allowed it to establish a military base to guard against Soviet missile attacks during the Cold War.

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At its height, the Thule Air Base in northwestern Greenland, now known as Pituffik Space Base, housed 6,000 U.S. military personnel. That footprint was reduced as the Cold War came to a close, and it is now home to just 150 service members. But in recent years, the strategic importance of the Arctic has once again come into focus.

As Arctic ice melts, it will continue to open the Far North to shipping and........

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