In the past few weeks, Donald Trump brought up his 2019 idea of purchasing Greenland. The rationale behind this is that Greenland is both a strategic place for the US military (there are already a few US bases there) and rich in natural resources like rare earth metals. Additionally, solidifying the US’s influence there will prevent it from falling into the hands of Russia or China.
Greenlaska
On Sunday the 29th, Trump’s former adviser, Robert O’Brien, said, “[Denmark] can let us buy Greenland from [them], and Greenland can become part of Alaska.” As an Alaskan, that was hilarious for me.1 Greenland is not anywhere near Alaska, and Greenlander culture is an interesting mix of the Danish and Inupiat people.
Not only that, but English is a second or third language for almost everyone in Greenland. And in some places, they might not speak it very well at all. (However, I was surprised that most of them can speak English.) How could you expect people who mostly speak a foreign language, Greenlandic, to become part of an American state?
Inupiat people in Greenland and Alaska
O’Brian also said, “I mean, the native people in Greenland are very closely related to the people of Alaska, and we’ll make it a part of Alaska.” What most people don’t realize is that Northern indigenous tribes are often culturally distinct from each other.
Many of the tribes in Alaska have a history of rivalries and speak completely different languages, even though they live near each other. I looked into the history, and the Inuits of Greenland moved to Greenland hundreds of years ago. So yeah, it’s not “the same” as Alaska.
Bigger concerns
But what I’ve pointed out so far are just general concerns. One Alaskan said, “I live in Alaska. I don’t care if it’s added to the state or if it becomes another territory. We need control of the future water ways around it.”2 Why should Alaskans be concerned about becoming part of Greenland?
A legal catastrophe
Well, since Alaska and Greenland are so far away from each other, they can never really become “part” of each other in any meaningful sense other than a legal one. And the legal aspect is what’s particularly concerning.
Obviously, Greenland would need representation in the Alaska House and Senate. From the little research I’ve done, it sounds like the people in Greenland are liberal. Adding their politicians to ours would give liberal ideas more power.
Pragmatically speaking, the interests of Greenland and Alaska are distinct. Because of the distance, their economy, culture, and infrastructure needs will always be completely different.
Representation issues
Greenland’s population is a little more than 57,000 people. If Greenland’s legislators were given the same voting power as Alaskans, then Greenland would get maybe two to four state representatives, and one to two state senators. Because there are 40 members in the Alaska State House and 20 in the State Senate, this would give Greenlanders around 5% influence over decisions.
Because Greenland’s needs are distinct, giving Greenland a minority vote in the House and Senate of Alaska would be extremely unfair. Alaska politicians would definitely take advantage of Greenland or pass laws that the people of Greenland would hate. Why would this happen? Because Alaskans would always have the majority vote.
Debt
On top of everything, there are concerns about Greenland being a debt burden. Right now Denmark is giving Greenland billions of dollars and supporting half of their government functions.
Overall, merging Alaska with Greenland sounds like a political mess.
The Death of Alaskanness
Also, you might not know it, but out of every state in America, Alaskans are the most “territorial” about their state.3 Becoming part of Greenland would be seen as a threat to our “Alaskanness,” which is defined as the particular qualities that describe a true Alaskan. Namely: hardiness and resilience. (Greenlanders are resilient as well, but in a Greenlandic way, not an Alaskan way.)
That’s the worst thing that could possibly happen if Alaska and Greenland become one: The dilution in meaning of what a “true Alaskan” is! (And I’m dead serious about this.)
I hope you can now see why this would be a problem.
Some better ideas
What I haven’t talked about so far is, ‘Would the people of Greenland benefit by becoming part of the US?’ Or is Trump’s idea just an instance of the American Empire trying to remain #1? Well, there might be a little (or a lot) of that in the reason behind doing this, but there are a few things you should know.
Greenland is a financial burden to Denmark, so it would probably be better for Denmark to be rid of a multi-billion-dollar black hole. But Greenland can’t defend itself because they have so few people. So what could Greenland do to be independent from Denmark and also be able to pay their bills?
My idea is they could first declare independence from Denmark (which they already have a legal process in order to do that). Then, they could make a deal with the US to allow more convenient travel and open up a lot of mineral and oil development.4 If they did it right, the additional money from the land leases and taxes could support Greenland’s government so they don’t need to receive aid from Denmark. The US already defends Greenland for free, so this arrangement would make more sense.
Freely Associated States
In fact, there’s already a precedent for this kind of arrangement. It’s called a Freely Associated State (FAS), which I think may be the only reasonable option for deepening the US and Greenland’s ties.
Why? Well, some people have voiced concerns that if Greenland became a territory instead of joining Alaska, liberals would try to turn Greenland into a state to give themselves more Federal power.
However, independent countries like Micronesia and the Marshall Islands have formed agreements with the US where the US will protect them in exchange for a strategic military presence in their country. Plus, a FAS treaty can create tariff-free shipments between countries and an enhanced immigration agreement.
Greenlandic independence
Greenland would probably be much more open to this as well because even if they only became a territory, they would still have to follow federal law. Greenlanders have expressed that they are not happy with Danish rule and that they desire total independence if possible.
Becoming a Freely Associated State would allow them to maintain their own laws and sovereignty while maintaining the benefits of aligning themselves with a larger power.
In the end, while I think O’Brian’s suggestion is absolutely terrible, Trump’s idea is in the right direction. Greenland is not Alaska, so the idea they could become Alaskan is ridiculous (and an unholy abomination!). It’s not really clear how the Alaska government would operate in conjunction with Greenland, or how that could be done fairly.
However, if Greenland declares independence, becoming a Freely Associated State of the US could be just what they’re looking for to solve their defense and economic issues.
Notes
- However, one Alaskan pointed out, “Maybe with enough Alaskan Greenlanders, we’d finally be able to move our state capitol from Juneau to the Willow?” Since Juneau is off the road system, for Alaskans, the capital is like an inaccessible ivory tower. It’s a huge point of contention. Alaskans already passed a ballot measure saying the capital should be moved to Willow, but the problem is they didn’t pass the bill to pay for it to move to Willow. Still, though, it would be really good if it happened. I responded to this Alaskan by saying, “No, they’d move it to a floating island in the Arctic Sea to get the capital even farther away from us.” ↩︎
- I just got a notification that said this Alaskan liked my comment detailing how merging Greenland with Alaska is a bad idea, but about what the US could do instead. Maybe their mind has changed already. ↩︎
- I know many Texans are as well, but there’s definitely a higher proportion in Alaska. Alaska has the greatest number of people who think their state should become independent. ↩︎
- Allowing more resource development has been a popular idea in Greenland for many years. They thought, like me, that the extra money would allow them to become independent from Denmark. However, a new party just got control of Greenland that wants to end all development. So… they’re gonna need to get rid of those people first. ↩︎
