The Arctic, the northernmost polar region, comprises the Arctic Ocean and its adja­cent seas and has about four million people, mostly Sami and Inuit. The Arc­tic Eight—the US, Can­ada, Russia, Finland, Denmark (including Greenland (GL)), Nor­way, Iceland, and Sweden (except Russia, all are mem­bers of NATO)—border the Arctic region. Since 2018, China has con­sidered itself a near-Arctic state. An Arctic Council, aka the Arctic Five, comprising Canada, Norway, Rus­sia, the US, and Denmark, formed in 1996, coordinates a common strategy for states, communities, and natural resources affected by changes in the Arctic Circle. The US Geological Survey determines that the Arctic Circle holds about 22% of the world’s undiscovered but re­coverable resources.

Trump invites PM Shehbaz to join Gaza Board of Peace

Self-autonomous GL, a former Danish colony, is situated in the Arc­tic region. It is an 836,000-square-mile, resource-rich island with a population of about 57,000 people, almost 90% Inuit. It is the world’s least densely populated country, and about 81% of it is covered by ice. It lies between the US and Eu­rope and astride the GL–Iceland–UK (GIUK) gap that links the Arctic to the Atlantic Ocean. This makes its possession and control inevita­ble for access to the North Atlantic, for trade and/or military purposes.

Ominously, GL might be next on President Trump’s “to do” list!

Pakistan Needs a Shared Boardroom 

GL, despite its remoteness and icy wilderness, is now emerging with increasing geopolitical, geo­strategic, and geoeconomic........

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