The latest U.S. Space Force Base is located in northern Greenland, 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It sits on land the indigenous Inuit call Pituffik. The site has been strategically critical to the U.S. since the Second World War when Greenland was a Danish colony and Denmark was controlled by Nazi Germany. During the war, Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Danish Envoy Henrik Kauffmann concluded a security agreement by which the U.S. would have the right to construct, maintain and operate such landing fields and sea plane facilities and radio and meteorological facilities as may be necessary.
The Agreement also provided that the U.S. respect all legitimate interests in Greenland pertaining to the native population. Soon after the establishment of Thule Air Base in 1952, the indigenous population was forcibly relocated by the Danish colonial administration. Pituffik was renamed Thule. In subsequent years, the two nations concluded further international agreements pertaining to the construction, maintenance, and operation by the U.S. of military facilities in Greenland.
The war in Ukraine, Russia’s Arctic presence, China’s quest for high north resources, and climate change have further enhanced the strategic value of Greenland to the U.S. A trilateral U.S.-Denmark-Greenland Joint Committee was formed in 2004, with the Government of Greenland becoming an equal partner in the cooperation, and the American Air Base at Thule was uppermost on the agenda.
The governments agreed that for base maintenance and expansion, services would be procured directly from Danish/Greenlandic sources. On April 6, 2023, Thule reverted to its former indigenous Inuit name Pituffik and became home to the U.S. Space Base.
General Saltzman observed that “renewed strategic competition in the Arctic can be expected with Russia’s historically significant presence in the region and the People’s Republic of China self-proclaimed near-Arctic power, seeking opportunities to expand its influence.” Because of the geopolitics of our time, the U.S.-Greenland partnership is again a strategic priority. And by virtue of longstanding commitment and moral obligation, it merits strong American support. As the world’s largest island evolves to an independent state, the citizens will have strategic partnerships.
