The US is spending a lot of money to keep its Thule Air Force Base in Greenland going. And unlike in the past, they take the interests of the Greenlanders more into account. This underscores the strategic importance that Thule has for them in the Arctic.
The Thule Air Force Base in Greenland was built during World War II. It is of great strategic importance for the USA.
“The result is a signal that close and respectful cooperation between the US, Denmark and Greenland can bring about a result that is satisfactory to all. That’s our pleasure. And it shows that American-Greenlandic cooperation can get even deeper.” This is how Greenland’s Minister for Foreign Relations, Vivian Motzfeldt, reacted at the weekend to the signing of a contract between the USA and Greenland for the maintenance of the Thule Air Force Base in the north of the island.
The Thule base was built during World War II after American troops took over the protection of Greenland. Today it is the most important US outpost in the high Arctic. The radar stations there are an important element of the American early warning system as part of the protective shield against enemy ICBMs. Together with an airfield and a deep-water port, they form a piece of critical military infrastructure.
Greenland’s wishes come true
However, even this far north, climate change is now making itself felt. When the base was originally constructed, buildings and runways were constructed directly on the permafrost. However, it is now becoming apparent that stabilizing measures will be necessary.
Washington spends a lot of money on this. Of the contract concluded with Greenland for the operation and maintenance of the Thule base has a term of twelve years and a value of 28 billion Danish kroner, which is around 4 billion dollars. Above all, however, it is important for Greenland that it is no longer an American company that is responsible for the necessary work, but a Greenlandic-American joint venture.
The joint venture thus pays taxes in Greenland, which is of some importance for the island’s budget. In addition, one would like, said Vivian Motzfeldt, that jobs would be created for Greenlanders and apprentices would be trained.
The agreement is an indication that Washington is taking Greenland’s concerns more seriously than it used to. This in turn can be noisy Marc Jacobsen, an Arctic expert from the Danish Military Academycan be interpreted as a sign that Thule Air Base has become more important to America in recent times.
Race for arctic presence
According to the Danish news agency Ritzau, Jacobsen explained that the United States was in the process of arming itself in the Arctic. He sees two reasons for this. One is the tremendous interest that China has shown in the Arctic lately, both from an economic and scientific point of view. China is the USA’s major global competitor, and its “New Silk Road” project is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the world.
The second reason is Russia’s rearmament in the northern polar region. Relations between Washington and Moscow have cooled down significantly, and from Greenland’s point of view, Russia is a neighbor on the other side of the North Pole.
From this point of view, it is logical that America must do something to counter China and Russia if it does not want to fall behind. All the more so since the USA seems to have underestimated the geostrategic importance of the Arctic for a long time and now there is a need to catch up.
This can be seen in the amount of money the contracts for the operation and maintenance of Thule Air Base have. The expiring agreement, announced in 2014, was worth 2.4 billion crowns over seven years. Now it’s 28 billion crowns, around 4 billion dollars, for twelve years. And the fact that Greenland’s wishes were taken into account shows that the USA does not want to spoil things with the big, cold island. Even if they can’t buy them, as President Trump once wanted.